Family, friends vow justice during Tyre Nichols’ memorial service

MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Through tears and heartache, family and friends vowed to get justice for Tyre Nichols.

”This could have been any of us,” said Angelina Paxton, a friend of Nichols, who died after a traffic stop by the Memphis Police Department on Jan. 7, 2023. “It really could have been any of us this time, because he was such an innocent person, he was such a light.”

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Those close to Nichols traveled near and far to fill up the M.J. Edwards funeral home in Orange Mound for a memorial service to honor Nichol’s life and legacy on Tuesday afternoon.

Also on Tuesday, Memphis city officials said that they are working on releasing body cam footage from the arrest.

“When somebody speaks to your soul, it’s a very powerful statement,” Nate Spates Jr., a friend of Nichols, said Tuesday.

On Monday, family and friends stood outside the National Civil Rights Museum demanding justice and seeking answers on MLK Day.

On the same day, his family announced that they retained nationally renowned civil rights and personal injury attorney Ben Crump.

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At his memorial service Tuesday, Nichols was remembered as kind, caring and funny man.

And most of all, he was a person who made an impact on all who knew him.

Many, like Spates, saw themselves in Nichols’ death.

”It was the wrong place, wrong time,” Spates said. “Tomorrow, I could be at the wrong place, wrong time. And that is very tough to deal with as a Black man in this country.”

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