The families of Tyre Nichols, Sonya Massey and Breonna Taylor, joined by their attorney Ben Crump, addressed the issue of systemic police reform at the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) Conference in Washington D.C., on Friday, Sept. 13.
Crump, expressed extreme disappointment over what he said were the lack of substantial changes despite numerous instances of police brutality.
“We thought after Rodney King was brutally beaten in the 1980s in Los Angeles, we would see systemic police reform,” Crump said. “It did not happen. We thought surely after Michael Brown and the Ferguson protests Hands up, don’t shoot' we would see meaningful reform in America. It didn’t happen. We thought certainly after George Floyd was tortured to death on video, during a pandemic, and the whole world saw it, that we would get police reform. It didn’t happen. And then, after Tyre Nichols was brutally beaten by five police officers, we thought we would finally see systemic police reform. It didn’t happen.”
RowVaughn Wells, Tyre Nichols’ mother, shared her experience and frustration with the current state of police reform. “Back in 2020, when George Floyd was killed in front of everyone’s eyes, we thought that seeing his death would ensure that no more of our children would suffer from police brutality,” Wells said. “But three years later, my son, Tyre Nichols, was murdered by five Memphis police officers who beat him to death.”
“Today, while a federal trial is ongoing for three of the officers involved in my son’s murder, I want to emphasize the urgent need to pass this bill."
At the end of her speech, Wells directly addressed Congress.
"We have too many children dying at the hands of the police, and I must say that Congress is currently holding up progress. To Congress, I want to make it clear: the blood of all the children who have been murdered is on your hands” Wells said.
Raymond Massey, the uncle of Sonya Massey, broke down in the middle of his speech from emotion.
“Sonya Massey was a beautiful Black queen. She was my niece,” he said. “She was going through a crisis. She called the police and ended up being killed in her own home. That’s been the worst for my family.”
Breonna Taylor’s mother, Tamika Palmer, also spoke with extreme pain and frustration.
“I don't know how to live in this world that keeps telling me that what happened to my child is wrong, that there are laws supposed to protect her" Palmer said. "But because no one recorded her death, because no one did that, you’re going to say her life doesn’t matter, and that’s insane. I am tired of begging for people to do the right thing, because it's bigger than Breonna. It’s all these women up here crying for their babies.”
In a statement, the CBC said the families of Tyre Nichols, Sonya Massey, and Breonna Taylor, alongside Ben Crump, are determined to "keep the spotlight" on the issue of police brutality until they see something change.