*A GoFundMe launched Friday by Tyre Nichols’ mother has so far raised over a million dollars and is still rising.
A message on the campaign’s page states: My name is RowVaughn Wells. I am the mother of Tyre Nichols. My son, Tyre Nichols, was pulled over for suspected “reckless driving” on January 7, 2023. There is no evidence to substantiate this claim. Further, police claim that my son left the scene on foot. It turns out that he was just trying to get to my house for safety — which was only a few blocks away from where the incident happened. My baby was just trying to make it home to be safe in my arms. Tyre was unarmed, nonthreatening, and respectful to police during the entire encounter!”
As the New York Post reports, Wells launched the GoFundMe to help cover the costs of mental health services and other living expenses for the family.
“My husband and I have had our entire world turned upside down by what happened to our son,” Wells wrote. “We are two hardworking, loving parents, that now have to turn our full-time attention to seeking proper justice for our son.”
Wells intends to use some of the money to build a memorial skate park in her son’s name. “We want to build a memorial skate park for Tyre, in honor of his love for skating and sunsets,” she wrote.
EUR reported previously, via CNN, that the Memphis Police Department has terminated five police officers in connection with the death of Nichols, who passed away in a hospital after being arrested by police earlier this month, according to a post from the department’s verified Twitter account.
On January 8, the police department announced that Nichols had been pulled over by officers for reckless driving the previous day. “As officers approached the driver of the vehicle, a confrontation occurred and the suspect fled the scene on foot,” officials said in a statement posted on social media.
Officers pursued Nichols, 29, as they attempted to take him into custody and beat him senseless.
“Afterward, the suspect complained of having a shortness of breath, at which time an ambulance was called to the scene. The suspect was transported to St. Francis Hospital in critical condition,” officials said.
Nichols died a few days later, according to the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation. The disturbing police body-cam footage was released Friday and shows him being pummeled by the cops near his mother’s home.
Nichols was a father and a FedEx worker who “was known as someone ‘you know when he comes through the door he wants to give you a hug” and that “he wouldn’t hurt a fly.’” Wells wrote. “He had never been in trouble with the law, not even a parking ticket.”
The Department of Justice and FBI have reportedly opened a civil rights investigation in Nichols’ death.
