For Immediate Release:
January 28, 2023
Contact: Heather Cabral, 202-550-6880, hcabral@faithinaction.org
Faith In Action joins Memphis Artists for Change, Black Southern Women’s Collaborative in call for systems change following murder of Tyre Nichols
WASHINGTON – Following the release of video depicting the brutal beating and murder of Tyre Nichols by Memphis police officers, clergy and leaders with Faith in Action, the country’s largest faith-based grassroots network, are joining local leaders in calling for systemic change including the removal of police from traffic enforcement.
Our partner Memphis Artists for Change, a member of the Black Southern Women’s Collaborative which is a project of Faith in Action, Nichols’ family and other Memphis community organizations are calling for passing the Data Transparency ordinance; ending the use of pretextual traffic stops; ending the use of unmarked cars and plainclothes officers; dissolving the SCORPION, OCU and MGU and other task forces; and removing police from traffic enforcement entirely.
The Rev. Alvin Herring, executive director of Faith in Action, said:
“Tyre Nichols should be alive. He was a joyous soul, a skateboarder and a budding photographer. He was a father, a son and a beloved friend.
“We at Faith in Action stand in solidarity with our dear siblings in Memphis. This incident underscores the dire need for a new system in the way our nation approaches policing and public safety, especially in Black, Brown and Indigenous communities.
“Law enforcement killed nearly 100 people each month in 2022, according to Mapping Police Violence. A quarter of those killings were Black people. The horrific levels of violence will not be solved with better training or a more diverse police force.”
Nichols’ family has called for releasing body cam footage, charging the officers, naming all officers and public personnel on the scene the night Tyre Nichols was brutally beaten, and releasing the files of the officers involved.
Reflecting on the released video footage and her own experience in Ferguson following the murder of Michael Brown in 2014, the Rev. Dr. Cassandra Gould, senior strategist for Faith in Action, said:
“When I saw the news of the murder of Tyre Nichols I thought here we go again. For many of us, weeks like this cause us to subconsciously ‘call the roll’ of the many young Black people who prematurely became ancestors, due to police brutality and state sanctioned murder. The list of vibrant Black lives who seemingly were reduced to Black bodies and hashtags seems to go on into perpetuity. May we continue to remember them and their families and do justice until there are no more hashtags.”
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Faith in Action is the largest grassroots, faith-based organizing network in the United States. The nonpartisan organization works with 1,000 religious congregations in more than 200 cities and towns through its 46 local and state federations. For more information, visit www.faithinaction.org.
Faith in Action is a 501c(3). Faith in Action and its affiliates are non-partisan and are not aligned explicitly or implicitly with any candidate or party. We do not endorse or support candidates for office.
