ALLENTOWN, Pa. — Lehigh Valley religious leaders and community members gathered Sunday night to mourn Tyre Nichols, who died after being viciously beaten by police in Memphis, Tennessee.
- About 35 people mourned Tyre Nichols in an Allentown church on Sunday night
- Organizers called the service a "public lament"
- Nichols was a Black man who was beaten to death by police in Memphis in early January
A group of about 35 people filled the first few rows of the city’s Resurrected Life Community Church, there to reckon with wrenching video of Nichols’ beating released Friday, one more in an unrelenting string of such killings. Among them, seated in the front row, were Allentown mayor Matt Tuerk and police chief Charles Roca.
Organizers called the service a "public lament."
“The word lament really is sorrow. It means deep, deep sorrow,” Resurrected Life Rev. Gregory Edwards said from the pulpit.
“It is an all-too-familiar moment for us,” said Ben Hailey, Sr., pastor of Allentown’s Union Baptist Church. “Tyre Nichols represents the best of us. His demise represents the worst of us. And we gather tonight to lament his murder at the hands of people who looked like him.”
“Tonight we weep, and we cry, and we lament because that's what it means to be human,” said Edwards. "Tomorrow, we work.”
Leaders representing a handful of the Valley's faith communities spoke about the horror of Nichols' killing, and pushed the congregation to do what they could to prevent similar things from happening in the future.
The death of a black person like Nichols at the hands of police “will happen in Allentown,” Edwards said. “It’s only a matter of time.”
“I will not bury my children. I refuse.”
“I will not bury my children. I refuse.”Resurrected Life Rev. Gregory Edwards
Nichols was pulled over by Memphis police in early January for alleged reckless driving. Video of the traffic stop shows officers brutally beating Nichols, who died of his injuries three days later.
Memphis Police Director Cerelyn “CJ” Davis fired five officers it identified as responsible. All five – Tadarrius Bean, Demetrius Haley, Desmond Mills Jr., Emmitt Martin III and Justin Smith – were later charged with second-degree murder, kidnapping and other crimes.
Davis has said other officers are under investigation for their part in the arrest. Davis described the five officers’ actions as “heinous, reckless and inhumane.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
