Citing urgency, civil rights leaders want to meet with President Biden and Vice President Harris to discuss federal response to Nichol’s beating death at hands of Memphis police before Feb. 7 State of the Union Address
From press release
NEW YORK – Leaders of the nation’s Black-led legacy civil rights organizations on Monday (Jan. 30) requested a meeting with Pres. Joe Biden and Vice Pres. Kamala Harris to discuss a forceful and substantive federal response federal response to the ongoing crisis of police violence.
“As the principals of eight legacy civil rights organizations that have been leading the fight for police reform in this nation, we write to request a meeting with you to discuss the federal response following the tragic death of Tyre Nichols and recommendations on further actions that can be taken on police accountability and toward a new vision of public safety,” the leaders wrote in a letter to the White House.
The letter was signed by the leaders of the National Urban League, National Action Network (NAN), the National Coalition on Black Civic Participation and Black Women’s Roundtable, NAACP, Legal Defense Fund, Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, and National Council of Negro Women (NCNW).
The letter continues: “Given the urgency of the matter, we ask that the meeting occur before next week’s State of the Union Address. The survival and success of Black people and the other communities we serve depend on our ability to find permanent solutions to end police brutality and the continued leadership of your Administration.”
President Biden, who has publicly expressed outrage after watching the video of the beating Tyre Nichol’s is likely to make some reference to the incident during the Feb. 7 State of the Union as Nichol’s family have accepted his invitation to attend, according to multiple media reports.
Following the national uprising in response to George Floyd’s murder by Minneapolis police in 2020, the civil rights leaders worked with members of Congress to develop the George Floyd Justice in Policing act. When the U.S. Senate repeatedly blocked passage of the legislation, they encouraged President Biden to issue his executive order on police reform while continuing to work for more comprehensive legislation.
