they never asked this man for his license. never asked for the car registration. snatched him out of the car and began beating him. nobody mentioned nothing about no girlfriend. nobody mentioned nothing about no -- they started beating an unarmed man. >> set them straight. fix it. tell them. tell them. >> in the city that they slayed the dreamer, what has happened to the dream? in the city where the dreamer

laid down and shed his blood, you have the unmitigated gall to beat your brother, chase im down and beat him some more. call for backup, and they take 20 minutes, and you watch him and you are too busy talking among each other, no empathy, no concern. if you read the story of joseph, when his brothers threw him in the pit, nobody came to help him. like nobody came to help tyre. waiting on ambulance service that didn't show up until it's too late. what will happen to his dream. we'll just tell them something else happened, but we are going to throw him in a pit, but i

come to memphis today to tell you the same mistake joseph's brothers made, is a mistake you made. you thought you threw joseph in a pit. you thought you threw dr. king's dream in a pit. but every time you throw something in a pit, god takes the pit and raises it up and changes the whole world. e world. let me be clear, we understand that there are concerns about public safety. we understand that there's needs to deal with crime, but you don't fight crime by becoming

criminals yourself. [ applause ] you don't stand up to thugs in the street becoming thugs yourself. you don't fight gangs by becoming five armed men against an unarmed man. that ain't the police. that's punks. [ applause ] man said i didn't do nothing. you kept on going anyhow. why do they go ahead because they feel that there is no

accountability. they feel that we are going to get angry a day or two and then we're going on to something else. some of us do this every day. some of us believe in the dream has to come true. some of us are going to fight until we make this legislation happen. i don't know when. i don't know how. but we won't stop until we hold you accountable and change this system. [ applause ]. >> why do we want to see the george floyd justice in policing act passed? because then you have to think twice before you beat tyre

nichols. you think twice before you shoot at someone unarmed. you think twice before you choke hold eric garner. you think twice before you put your knee on eric garner's -- on george floyd's neck. because if you don't have qualified immunity your wife would be telling you before you leave home, behave yourself because we could lose the house, we could lose the car, behave yourself because our savings can be done. you want to be a tough guy, well, let's get rid of qualified immunity, and see if you learn the same manners you have on the white side of town, you'll have some manners on the black side of town.

[ applause ] reverend al, you don't understand how are they going to keep crime down in the black community and at the same time not be tough and rough. well, they do it the same way they do it on the white side of memphis, and they keep the crime down without being rough and tough. how do you have the same department that can keep crime down on one side of town without beating folk to death? but you can't do it on the other side of town? unless you feel that you can get away with it there. i can't speak for everybody in memphis. i can't speak for everybody gathering, but for me, i believe that that man had been white, you wouldn't have beat him like that that night.

>> we're asking to be treated equal. and to be treated fair. and just like they marched and boycotted and went to jail for nine years from the 55 montgomery busboy cot to the 64th civil rights act, we going to pay the same dues to get this george floyd justice in policing act. [ applause ]. >> reverend, i don't know how long, they didn't know how long it would be when they boycotted. it's not about a timetable. it's about we cannot continue to live under these double standards and under these conditions. we don't care how long, but i

can tell you one thing, those of you that keep voting against that bill, we're going to vote against you. we got more numbers than the police unions. i believe that god will do for us what we will do for ourselves. and even in the pit joseph never lost his faith. joseph could have gave up. joseph could have gave out, but in the pit, he still believes in the god of his father, and even as i stand over the casket of this innocent young boy, this young man, 39 years old with a 4-year-old son that his mother

and father and his siblings have to raise. i believe that god will take him, tyre, out of that pit, and use him as a symbol for justice all over this country. i believe that babies unborn will know about tyre nichols because he won't let his memory die. we're going to change this country because we refuse to keep living under the threat of the cops and the robbers. [ applause ] what touched me, i was raised by a single mother. daddy left when i was 10. mama raised my sister and i on welfare and food stamps. what touched me is when i heard him calling for his mother. just like george floyd was

calling for his mother. something you'd have to be a black man, the only thing between you and disaster was your mother. to understand what calling for your mother means, somewhere deep in my heart i understood tyre. because the only thing that kept the kids from laughing at my banana sandwiches in school, because she couldn't afford enough to put meat there, but mama would make it all right for me. and he knew if he could just get mother, that they would quit beating him and quit stomping on him. all he wanted to do was get home. now, home, reverend jamal

bryant, home is not just a place. home is not just a physical location. home is where you are at peace. home is where you don't have to keep your dukes up. home is where you're not vulnerable. home is where everything is all right. he said all i want to do is get home. i come to memphis to say the reason i keep going is all i'm trying to do is get home. i want to get where they can't treat me with a double standard. i'm trying to get home. i want to get where they can't call me names no more. i want to get home. i want to get where they can't shoot and ask questions later. i'm trying to get home. every black in america stands up every day trying to get home.

last night we went to mason temple. the church of god and christ, and the wells family and tyre's sisters and brothers stood there where martin luther king gave his last speech. they didn't know that night it was his speech for the last time. i was told by those that worked with king that raised me and i recounted it with mrs. king, i worked very closely with martin iii, we're going back to washington august the 26th during his father's march, 60th anniversary, we're going to deal with tyre and the rest of these issues. and they told me that that day, april 3rd, 1968, it was raining

and storming. dr. king said he didn't even feel like going to the rally. he had come to memphis a week before to lead a march for the sanitation workers, and some provocateurs got at the end of the march. you know, there's still some around, blacker than anybody else. more active than anybody else. more street than anybody else. they started a riot at the end of the march. and the press said, oh, dr. king's day is over. nonviolence is dead, so he came back to prove that he could march. if it wasn't for so-called militants dr. king would have never faced what he faced. that's why all of these people talking bad that you and i don't know, don't have no background on, be careful of who jumps in

movements. because they set serious folk up. dr. king came back and that day it was raining, and he said to dr. ralph abernathy, you go speak, i don't feel like going tonight. and they got there, the church was full. in a storm. dr. abernathy went into the pay phone and he called back to the lorraine motel, a black-owned motel. told them, 306. dr. king picked up the phone he said, martin, you need to come. there are thousands here. they didn't come to see me. dr. king got in the car by himself and rode over to mason temple and he started speaking that night, and something came over him. he said that i don't fear any

man. he said, god has allowed me to go to the mountaintop, and i've seen the promised land. and that's the last speech he gave right here in memphis when he went to the mountaintop. i believe when he looked over he could see a barack obama become president. i believe when he went to the mountaintop, he could look over and see a kamala harris sitting as vice president. i believe when he looked over the from the mountaintop, he saw black police chiefs. he didn't expect you to disgrace him. he expected you to bring us on to the promised land. that's why i'm still marching. yes, i got books out. yes, i got a tv show. but i'm a mountain climber. i'm not going to stop until i get to the top of the mountain. you can call me names on right

wing television. i'm a mountain climber. i expect stumbles to come my way. i'm a mountain climber. you can disgrace me. you can discredit me. but i'm going to keep on climbing. i'm going to climb until justice, until gets justice, i'm going to climb until we change the laws, we're mountain climbers, we're not day traders, we're mountain climbers, and if god before us is more than the whole world against us, he walks with me. he talks with me. he tells me that i'm his own. he's been full when i was hungry, water was i was thirsty, he's my rock. he's my rock. he's my rock. my sword and shield, my will, in

the middle of the will, yes. yes. >> let us have a call to action. let us go forward to get justice. >> yes. >> let us all be mountain climbers. don't stop until we get to the top. many years ago there was a young boy killed at a boot camp in

florida. killed this boy, there was a young lawyer who called me from new york, who asked me to come and stand with the students in tallahassee, florida, and i went down and we led some marches. after that, a couple of years later, he came to see me the man i just started action nation, wanted me to meet this man. this man sat in my office and told me that they want to be security guards that killed his son. i had not heard of the case, but the man started crying, telling me about his son, trayvon martin. and as i looked at his tears and looked at this lawyer, i thought about how i never saw my father

cry for me. and i said if i can help, i'll help, and we started the trayvon martin movement. we called the national march. i got some of the radio announcers to help us, and we put 10,000 people in that little town in florida. the morning of that march, my mother died. and they thought i would not come, and i started to turn around, but i said, no, my mother would have wanted me to stand up for trayvon, and that lawyer and i have been locked shoulder to shoulder ever since. he's known now all over the world as the attorney general for black america. why? because he'll fight for us when others won't. are they going to call you names, they're going to always give you another angle.

the only way you know you are making any headway is if you have opposition. only time i get concerned is when everybody's on my side. but when you all start calling names, it gives me extra exercise in the morning. because i know that people don't react unless you act. you can't be an activist if you don't have some reactivist. i bring you to give us our call to action. the attorney general of black america, attorney benjamin

crump. >> you all give it up for one of the greatest mountain climbers today, reverend al sharpton, mountain climber. thank you for being a mentor and a person who always answers the bell. a lot of these families here, reverend al, you answered the bell when many people wouldn't answer the bell. we know the big names that became hash tags. for every george floyd, for every breonna taylor, for every ahmaud arbery, there are 100 other nameless black people being killed in america that nobody remembers but you answer the bell reverend sharpton, and i want to say thank you

publicly. [ applause ] to pastor turner, thank you for allowing us in your cathedral, to all the other clergy, to mayor keisha lance bottom, we thank you for coming to congresswoman sheila jackson lee, who told rowvaughn and rodney that not only is she going to reintroduce the george floyd justice in policing act right after the state of the union address, but she is also going to have a tyre nichols duty to intervene in that legislation, so thank you.

>> so we thank you for your great leadership here in memphis, tennessee. and i will be remiss reverend al if i didn't acknowledge yet again, the highest ranking after can american woman and united states history, the vice president of the united states kamala harris who did not think it robbery to take time out of her busy schedule to come and comfort this black mother who lost her child unjustly. thank you, madame vice president. we will never forget this day. then i wanted to acknowledge some of the activists.

the local activists here in memphis, tennessee, who were here before i even got here. i want you all to stand to be recognized. without local activists, we would not have heard about tyre nichols. i had the activists names written down, and i will thank them in my conversation if you hand to reverend al, i want to thank the national activists, i know tamika mallory and my son and also thank you reverend al, we got casio montez, we got paula barriss, we got hunter, we got amber sherman, lj abraham.

we got frank, we got moses, we wouldn't be here without you activists so thank you. we would not be here. a lot of times we always acknowledge the high positions but it's the people on the ground on the front line, like you taught me, reverend al, who make the difference. so let me, as constrained as i can give the call to action. i do so on behalf of my cocounsel, antonia, van turner, the naacp president, local here in memphis, attorney chris o'neill, attorney natalie jackson, attorney sue ann

robinson, our whole team, kareem ali, we all in this together fighting for justice for you, foryou, mr. rodney, fighting for justice, and so when we do the call to action, it really is a plea for justice. it is a plea for tyre nichols, the son, it is a plea for justice for tyre nichols, the brother, it is a plea for justice for tyre nichols the father. but most of all, it is a plea for justice for tyre nichols,

the human being, the human being. we don't see the memphis police department scorpion unit extend one ounce of humanity during that one hour and seven minute video. why couldn't they see the humanity in tyre. your neighbor asked them that. why can't they see humanity in tyre. for his mama. ask him again, why can't they see the humanity in tyre? and then finally for his son,

turn to your neighbor and ask why couldn't they see the humanity in tyre. because we have to make sure they see us as human beings and once we acknowledge that we're human beings, worthy of respect and justice, then we have the god given right to say i am a human being and i deserve justice, not just any justice but equal justice, and that's what we're going to get for tyre nichols, equal justice. and ms. rowvaughn, rodney, jamal, michael, kiana, to all

his family, grandma, his son. i know we can't bring tyre back, but in this call to action, we establish his legacy and let's never let them forget memphis, because his legacy will be one of equal justice. it will be the blueprint going forward [ applause ] because we have to remember that in less than 20 days when it was five black police officers, captured on a video, engaging in excessive use of force, when they were committing crimes on video that they were terminated, they were arrested, and they were charged. and police chief davis, and i

have respect for her saying this, the police chief said that it was important that the community see us take swift action. they said it was important that we move swiftly towards justice. when laquan mcdonald was killed in chicago, and by white police officers, it's important that the community see swift justice, too. when was killed in baton rouge, louisiana, it's important that the community see swift justice too. when stephan clark was killed in sacramento, california, it's important that the community see swift justice too. when eric garner was killed in staten island, new york, it's important that the community see swift justice too. when pamela turner was killed in houston, texas, it's important that the community see swift

justice too. when ej bradford was killed on thanksgiving night in birmingham, alabama, it's important that the community see swift justice too. when terrance was a black man having car trouble in the broad daylight in tulsa, oklahoma, walking away with his hands up and they shot him in the back, on video, it was important that the community see swift justice too on that. when botham jean eating ice cream in his own apartment, police come and shoot and kill him, and say i thought it was my apartment, in self-defense, and her position, it was a need to have swift justice too. and so no more. no more can they ever tell us

when we have evidence on video of them brutalizing us, that it's going to take six years. it's going to take a month, that it's going to take three years like laquan mcdonald, no, no, no. 20 days. we're going to start counting. we can count to 20, and every time you kill one of us on video, we're going to say the legacy of tyre nichols is that we have equal justice swiftly. swiftly. swiftly. and so reverend al, i would be remiss if i did not acknowledge a sister who also deserves swift justice, and that is breonna taylor, whose mother, tamika palmer, is here.

and many of you may have heard about this coincidence. that breonna taylor and tyre nichols were born on the same day and the same year, june 5th, 1993. so i want to acknowledge tamika palmer. i know you said it brought back so many memories and pain when you found out it was the same birthday, so if you would stand, tamika palmer, let us at least acknowledge breonna taylor's mother.

thank you. and now reverend al, i guess we're going to hear a brief reflection from the family and this is hard. so. >> let me, as we bring the family, i also want to acknowledge some of our faith leaders and our faith leaders, activists that have come all the way. first of all, a man who interprets the intelligence of our time, the socrates of this generation, dr. michael dyson, the pastor of new baptist church of atlanta, georgia, reverend jamal harrison-bryant is in the house. reverend john graves from

greenville, south carolina. i must acknowledge two members of the board of national action network, outstanding clergymen, the pastor of mount pisco baptist church in harlem and the head of impact and a member of the national board, stand up. i'm trying to see where he's sitting. okay. there he is. reverend johnny, stand up reverend, johnny green, johnny l. green, and pastor of new hope baptist church in elizabeth, new jersey, member of our board head, the reverend stephanie bartley. i want to thank our staff and work with reverend turner and his staff, i want to thank all of the staff of our brother attorney ben crump, the hard working staff, suddenly reverend, the best tool of my staff who really worked hard and

reverend steven marshal travels with me. and so many, reverend nelson rivers has been on this all week, and then probably the preeminent media expert in the country today, rachel nordlinger who handled all media. and damion, who was been with me since he was a little boy. i have to say this to everybody so i don't get thrown off the plane tonight, as the family gathers, let me ask you all, as this family stands here, i want to say this publicly what i've said to the mother and father privately, that we'll be with them when the cameras are gone.

we'll be with them -- [ applause ] when it's no longer a story. the floyd family and mother of eric garner, it doesn't matter to me how long, i'm in the family now. i might show up for christmas. look for my gift under the tree. because we're wedded in the struggle together. and i want you all to treat us like family, and if you're not going to stick with it, don't be jumping up in front of the camera for them. [ applause ] i need to see more of tyre's best friend on tv which he didn't know was his best friend. people hallucinating they know

tyre. you're just getting in the camera. that is wrong. let us support this family and stand with this family. mama wants to build a skating rink in his name. we going to do that. but we also going to give some justice for mama, and for daddy. tyre was the kind of man who would come home and eat lunch with his daddy, step daddy, and they would have dinner at night. this was a good man that didn't deserve this. nobody deserves it but he especially didn't deserve it, and to give you some of what it was about, you're going to hear with some of the members of his family. we're going to start with kiana. nobody worked harder than

kareem. we call kareem like he was on my payroll. we love kareem. we're going to have kiana and latoya speak on behalf of their brother. these are two of the sisters of tyre. [ applause ]. >> i'm going to take time to share things you may not know about my baby brother. it's very hard to stand with me, so bear with me. >> tyre was my baby brother. him and i were 11 years apart. he was so special to me. he loved me, and i loved him dearly. being the oldest of three boys, i had to watch my brothers, take them places that i probably didn't want to take them, watch them at times when i didn't want to watch them. but with ty, i didn't mind.

he never wanted anything but to watch cartoons and a big bowl of cereal. so it was pretty easy to watch him. on the night of january 7th, my brother was robbed of his life, his passions, and his talents, but not his light. when my mother called me and said my baby brother was gone, i lost my faith. i cried. i screamed at god, asking how could he let this happen. and then my cries turned to anger, and anger turned to deep sorrow. and a pain i never felt when those monsters murdered my baby

brother. it left me completely heartbroken. i see the world showing him love and fighting for his justice. but all i want is my baby brother back. and even in his demise, he was still polite. he asked them to please stop. he was still the polite young man he always was. he asked them to please stop. and they didn't. and that's why my family will never be the same, and i will just always love my baby brother forever. thank you.

[ applause ]. >> this is going to be tough. i'm just trying to go home. i'm just trying to go home. is that too much to ask? i didn't break any laws along this path. i've skated across barriers designed to hold me back. i'm just trying to go home, where the love is loud, and the smiles are warm, like the sunsets that come from me in the coldness of my storm. i'm just trying to go home.

i hear the sirens, i see the flashing lights. the directions are clear, black skin go left, blue skin go right. i'm just trying to go home. where i feel safe. but badges, boots, bright lights against my face. i'm just trying to go home. does anyone hear the pain in my cry? the struggle in my breath? god replied come home, my son, now you can rest. [ applause ] ♪♪ >> we're going to hear now from his brothers, james, lazar, and

jamal dupree. >> how you guys doing? so i didn't plan to speak today, but as i was just sitting here watching everything, my brother was really robbed of his life. you know, my brother didn't live up to the normal black man hype, basketball player, football player, rapper, none of that. right? he set his own path. you know, he made his own light. he seen the world way different than i've ever seen it before. and when i sit here and look at the screens of the work that my brother has done and from the vigils, from people talking to me about my brother, i learned

so much about him. and i don't think people just tell me this to be telling me but my brother really touched a lot of lives. he was a very solid individual. he was very peaceful. he was very respectful. and, again, i've spent a lot of time away from my brother, and i wish that i hadn't because i want to know the person that everybody else knows. you know, and five officers made that happen to where i won't ever be able to do that. so just being here just sucks, but i'll never forget my brother. i'll never forget my gemini twin. i love you, and just save a spot for me, bro.

[ applause ]. >> good evening, my name is james. my god brother is tyre. it's not too much i can say that hasn't already been said about him from everybody. but i wanted to share you all's story of how he got his name, though. my sister toya said my mom named him, which was -- came from a movie called silverado, one of the characters in it, and she liked that movie, but she wanted to name me that, but she kept that name in her back pocket for some reason, i don't know. then '93 came, and our boy came, and she was like there you are, tyre. and i used to always joke with him, like, man, you keep messing with him, i'm going to take my name back. he's like no, you ain't, it's my name. it was how he said it.

i'm tyre, this is me, you know, and i always remember that. my little dude coming in the house eating cereal and watching looney tunes or something, because i just want to thank everybody for being here for us, showing love, but it ain't too much, like i say, that hasn't already been said about my dude. i just miss him, and i love him. and just shouldn't have never happened, you know. and thank you, all. [ applause ]. >> let me, as i bring the parents, to recognize for the parents you talked about a movie that i was not supposed to acknowledge him, he just wanted to come down and fly down with me, and fly back, but he's here with us, and wants to do something around this. oscar winning director spike lee is in the house.

[ applause ] he's sitting there with my daughter, so you know she going to try to be in the next movie, but nobody has shown more strength and more dignity than rowvaughn wells and rodney have born such pain for us. and they didn't want to speak but i just think that we need to just hear them say something. this is their son. this is their struggle. and i know they're going to have weak days. let us be their strength. let's hear from the parents of

tyre. [ applause ]. >> i'd like to start by saying thank you for everybody's support. this has been a journey that's not going to end here. it's just the beginning. we're looking forward to passing some bills. we're looking forward to getting justice for all the families over there. not just ours. this is a continuous fight that we have to fight for. we have to fight for justice. we cannot continue to let these people brutalize our kids.

to have my siblings up here, my wife, and it's very hard for my wife, you know, this is her baby son. and it's nothing like your baby boy. when we got the news, it was very very difficult. it was surrounded by lies, deceit, trying to cover >> and the light of day is justice for tyre. >> justice for tyre. >> justice for all the families that lost loved ones through brutality of police or anybody.

and i can't say enough about how this community, how this nation, and how this world has came together to support my family, to support my wife, and to support me. i appreciate it. thank you very much. >> good afternoon. first of all, i want to thank each and every one of you for coming out to pay tribute to my son. tyre was a beautiful person. and for this to happen to him is just unimaginable.

i probably should keep myself going, truly believing i will see him on the other side with god. and i guess now his assignment is done. he's been taken home. i want to thank -- yes. [ inaudible ] yes. i want to thank all the community activists. >> yes. >> for being here for my family. i want to thank the chief of police for acting swiftly. >> yes. >> yes. >> the district attorney, the

state of tennessee. i want to thank my lawyers. >> yeah. >> mr. ben crump. >> yes, sir. >> he has been our rock. he has been our rock. i just need whatever that george floyd bill passed. take action, because there should be no other child that should suffer the way my son and all the other parents here who have lost their children. we need to get that bill passed. >> amen.

>> the next child that dies, that blood is going to be on their hands. >> yeah. yeah. >> thank you. >> give a hand to the family. give a hand to the family. >> we are going to stay with them. we're going to do the procession, but before we do, we're going to have two men with

words of comfort. one minute because the family has to move out. and y'all know i do a show called "politics nation," but if you all go over a minute i'm going to do "the gong show" in here today. words of comfort. we already did the eulogy and the call to action, so let's act orderly so we can move the family forward as they request. let me bring reverend dr. earl fisher in followed by reverend rodney woodley and reverend -- bishop marvin thomas of the first episcopal district, and then bishop brandon porter, secretary of the general board of the church of god and christ. why don't you all come in that order, quickly. y'all come together.

this way we have one right after another as we -- and we seriously -- i know some family have to catch a plane. we need to be expeditious. we're grateful for your presence. >> protocol has been established to this family. when i say his name, say tyre. say his name. >> tyre. >> say his name. >> tyre. >> that's some africa that ways of knowing, ancestors say as long as you say someone's name, they should never die. there's not too much i can add other than this to this family -- we will see him again. i was at first african in savannah, georgia, doing a workshop. i was in the administrative assistant's office and i realized i needed something to

project my presentation. so i ran to best buy. i had the associate pastor take me. and we took longer than they had expected, but i left my book bag in the administrative assistant's office. when i got back, she said i thought you'd never come back. i said, did you look around? she said no. i said, had you looked around intently, you would have saw i left something. and that signified that at some point you would see me again. i know he's in the hands of god. i know he's in the ancestral realm, but look around intently. he's left something. he's left a child. he's left brothers and sisters. he's left a mother and a father. he's left activists and organizers and community members. and i believe every time we raise our voice for love and justice and power, we will see tyre again. may the family find comfort in these words.

[ applause ] >> i'd just like to say to my friends, rodney and rowvaughn, and the entire family, that we are soldiers, and we're in this army. we're fighting a fight that seems oftentimes unwinnable. but what i got as i sat here and listened was on that day of january 7th, tyre got drafted, unknowingly, into a service as a secret agent. he was drafted as a secret agent for a secret mission that he had no idea that he'd been drafted for. but just like any soldier before they go off to war, to do battle, they want to go and do something that they love, so he went away to take some pictures. but on his way home, the battle was already afoot.

so understand this, that just because it looks like he lost the battle, the war will be won, because i heard this statement, and i'll keep it clear, wars come and go, but soldiers are eternal. god bless you. [ applause ] >> leighton hughes' poem, "i, too, sing america," i want to lift from that poem these two words, "i too," with the permission to say "we too," so on behalf the episcopal church, bishop lawrence l. ray iii and all the members of the christian methodist episcopal church, i amoco join this family and this

unfortunate syndication of the rerun of this movie too often. the senseless murder of one of our sons at the hands of the police. to say, we, too, are grieving with you. we too, are sick and tired of being sick and tired of these kinds of funerals. we, too, remain restless and will be restless until justice is served for tyre and his family. we, too, join the voices of others calling for the termination and persecution of the police officers and the first responders that stood by and did nothing as tyre's life was being taken. we, too, use our collective voices at every level of government declaring now is the time to pass meaningful police reform legislation to give our mothers and fathers some degree of confident peace as their sons leave home that they may return home. we, too, are