Tyre Nichols tribute: ‘This is how his mom wants the world to see him’
Tyre Nichols was just trying to get home.
Excerpts from Tyre Nichols murder coverage:
Nichols, a 29-year-old father, was on his way home from taking pictures of the sunset on Jan. 7, when police pulled him over. He was just a few minutes from the home he shared with his mother and stepfather, when he was brutally attacked by five Memphis police officers.
Related: Tyre Nichols remembered as joyful and kind man with creative eye – al.com
He died three days later at a hospital, and the officers have since been charged with second-degree murder and other offenses.
“Nobody’s perfect, nobody. But he was damn near,” his mother, RowVaughn Wells, said at a news conference this week, moments after she watched the video of her son being beaten. “He was damn near perfect.”
Related: Memphis police disband unit that beat Tyre Nichols – al.com
His mother said she raised her son to love everyone openly — until they give you a reason not to. So Nichols was quick to make friends.
The video of Nichols’ beating is brutal. That’s not how she wants her son to be remembered. She wants the world to see Tyre for who he was: A kind, gentle creative soul who loved to skateboard and take sunset photos.
“This is how his mom wants the world to see him”: Video of Nichols skateboarding joyfully in the sun https://twitter.com/Smallorchids/status/1619018111860240385?s=20&t=CAcAbxDx46lst83JkLEk6A
Tyre Nichols video image
Link to Twitter video: https://twitter.com/AttorneyCrump/status/1617636943486918661?s=20&t=Doh2cWFVvzY589AotophTA
Related: Tyre Nichols video released: Fatal Memphis traffic stop compared to Rodney King beating – al.com
When he wasn’t working, he went to the park to skateboard and take pictures. His website, called This California Kid, starts with an invitation: “Welcome to the world through my eyes.”
He included a gallery of what he considered his masterpieces: bridges and railroad tracks rendered in black and white, the neon lights of Beale Street at night. He took pictures of pink flowers, sunsets over the Mississippi River, fields of grass, statues of Elvis. He highlights a quote from another photographer: “A good photographer must love life,” it begins.
After she watched the video of her son’s death, she stood with her family and their lawyers at a lectern, shaking, to convey what the world lost.
In the video footage, which was released Friday to the public, Nichols is heard saying he just wants to go home, family lawyers said. He was less than 100 yards from his mother’s house.
Lawyers described the last words Nichols is heard saying — calling for his mom, three times.
“Oh my God,” she wailed as they spoke. “Oh my God.”
Rest in Power, Tyre Nichols.
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JD Crowe is the cartoonist for Alabama Media Group and AL.com. He won the RFK Human Rights Award for Editorial Cartoons in 2020. In 2018, he was awarded the Rex Babin Memorial Award for local and state cartoons by the Association of American Editorial Cartoonists. Follow JD on Facebook, Twitter @Crowejam and Instagram @JDCrowepix.