A fundraiser created by the mother of Tyre Nichols has raised more than $1m for the family in the wake of his death.
“My husband and I have had our entire world turned upside down by what happened to our son,” RowVaughn Wells wrote in the description of a GoFundMe page raising funds for the family.
“We are two hardworking, loving parents, [and] now have to turn our full-time attention to seeking proper justice for our son,” she added. “We have yet to have the proper space to begin our grieving process, which will be long and burdensome.”
The fundraiser will help cover the costs of mental health services and time off work, where they do not have unlimited paid time off, she said.
The funds will also support the creation of a memorial skate park for Nichols, “in honor of his love for skating and sunset,” according to Ms Wells.
Nichols died in hospital three days after he was severely beaten by police in Memphis, Tennessee, earlier this month.
The 29-year-old FedEx worker and father of a four-year-old son was a celebrated skateboarder who loved photography, writing on his website that his vision was “to bring my viewers deep into what I am seeing through my eye and out through my lens.”
“People have a story to tell,” he wrote, “why not capture it.”
“Tyre Nichols was loved by his community and was known to be gentle, kind, and joyful,” Ms Wells wrote. “He 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.’”
Nichols “had never been in trouble with the law, not even a parking ticket,” she said. “He was an honest man, a wonderful son, and kind to everyone. He was quirky and true to himself, and his loss will be felt nationally.”
On 27 January, the city released video footage from the night he was brutally beaten, pepper sprayed, kicked in the head and repeatedly struck as officers shouted a series of contradictory orders and failed to provide aid as Nichols pleaded for them to stop and called out for his mother.
The videos – which have galvanised a national movement against police violence – also contradict an initial police report written hours after the beating that claims Nichols was noncompliant and “started to fight” officers.
“My baby was just trying to make it home to be safe in my arms,” Ms Wells wrote on GoFundMe. “Tyre was unarmed, nonthreatening, and respectful to police during the entire encounter.”
Five officers – Tadarrius Bean, Demetrius Haley, Desmond Mills Jr, Emmitt Martin III and Justin Smith – were fired and charged with second-degree murder, along with several other offences. Two other officers officer has been placed on administrative leave, and two Memphis Fire Department emergency medical workers and a driver have also been fired.
Jalen Drummond, GoFundMe’s director of public affairs, said the platform “will ensure these funds safely and quickly reach the family as they navigate this tragedy.”
The fundraiser was supported by social justice platform Communityx, founded by Chloe Sledd, whose father was nearly fatally shot by Chicago police officers in 1989.
