Lawmakers have invited the parents of Tyre Nichols, the man who died after Memphis, Tennessee, police officers beat him earlier this month, and Brandon Tsay, the man credited with saving lives by disarming the gunman in an attempted second mass shooting in Monterey Park, California, to attend the State of the Union address on Feb. 7.
President Joe Biden’s address was already likely to discuss police reform and gun control, and after Nichols’s brutal killing and more mass shootings including the one in Monterey Park, that likelihood seems all but a certainty.
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RowVaughn Wells, Nichols’s mother, and Rodney Wells, his stepfather, were invited to the State of the Union by Rep. Steven Horsford (D-NV), The Black Caucus chairman. They have accepted. Tsay was invited by Rep. Judy Chu (D-CA) and then Biden himself reportedly extended the same invite, which Tsay reportedly accepted.
Nichols, 29, was hospitalized after Memphis police officers assaulted him while conducting a traffic stop on Jan. 7. He later died from his wounds, police said, on Jan. 10. The city released graphic video this week of the beating, and Nichols’s death has renewed calls for police reform. Protesters walked the streets over the weekend to decry police brutality.
Former officers Tadarrius Bean, Demetrius Haley, Emmitt Martin III, Desmond Mills Jr., and Justin Smith are charged with second-degree murder, two counts of official misconduct, one count of official oppression, aggravated assault-act in concert, and two counts of aggravated kidnapping.
Haley, Martin, and Smith are in jail on $350,000 bonds, and Bean and Mills were booked on $250,000 bonds. The officers were part of the city’s Scorpion Unit (Street Crimes Operations to Restore Peace in Our Neighborhoods). It has since been disbanded.
Tsay, 26, was given a medal of courage from the Alhambra Police Department during a ceremony Sunday. Biden also called him last week to thank him for his heroic action, CNN reported.
Huu Can Tran, 72, is accused of killing 11 people and wounding nine others in a mass shooting rampage in Monterey Park on Jan. 21. Tran allegedly shot up a dance studio and then less than a half hour later, tried to shoot up another one. Tsay is credited with wrestling the gun from the shooter after the first rampage, thereby saving lives. Tran was later found dead of a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
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In his State of the Union speech, the president will address the top priorities of his administration, which are expected to include the economy as well as abortion access. Biden’s ability to pass more of his agenda in the next two years of his term hinges on the ability of the divided Congress to compromise. It will be Biden’s first appearance before the Republican-led House.
