The family of Tyre Nichols, who was violently beaten during a traffic stop and died in police custody three days later, will be in attendance when President Joe Biden delivers his State of the Union address next week.
The family accepted an invitation to attend the speech that was extended by the Congressional Black Caucus, Rep. Steven Horsford, Chairman of the CBC, told MSNBC.
"I have invited the Nichols family as a guest of the Congressional Black Caucus so they will be there on that day to hear from the president and from members on Congress on both sides of the aisle, how we will finally take action to keep our communities safe," Horsford said. "We are going to take action. First, it's about making sure the president knows that this is an important enough issue to talk about at the State of the Union."
The caucus has also called for a special meeting with the president to discuss reforms to the justice system, "specifically, the actions and conduct of our law enforcement." The request comes following the release of the body cam footage showing Memphis police officers brutally beating Nichols for several minutes.
Nichols died Jan. 10, three days after the traffic stop near his mother's home. Five officers of the Memphis Police Department were fired and were each indicted with charges of second-degree murder. A sixth officer was fired by the department on Monday, as the investigation into the killing remains ongoing.
After speaking with the Nichols family, Horsford vowed to follow through on their desire to see legislators take "meaningful action" to prevent such a tragedy from taking place again.
"This is about people being safe," he said. "There is no action that condones what happened in Memphis. But it's not only what happens in Memphis, it's what happens all across this country virtually every single day. So we will work in a bipartisan way, not only in [Tyre's] legacy but in the legacy of so many other lives that have been lost. It's time for action now."
The president has been vocal about the killing, saying last week that he is "outraged and deeply pained" by the video of Nichols being beaten by officers. Biden called and spoke with Nichols' family, sharing his sympathy with them.
"I spoke with Tyre's mother and expressed my condolences, and told her that I was going to be making the case to the Congress to pass the George Floyd Act," Biden told reporters. "We should get this under control. I can only do so much in an executive order at a federal level."
The George Floyd Justice in Policing Act, introduced in 2021 following Floyd's death in Minnesota at the hands of police officers, addresses a wide range of policies and issues regarding policing practices and law enforcement accountability. It aims to combat police misconduct, excessive force, and racial bias in policing. The bill passed the House but collapsed during talks in the Senate in Sept. 2021, and no action has been taken since.
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