The parents of Tyre Nichols have accepted an invitation from the Congressional Black Caucus to attend President Biden's State of the Union next week.
Driving the news: Rep. Steven Horsford (D-Nev.), the caucus chair, said Sunday he spoke with the family of Nichols "to first extend our condolences to them, to let them know that we stand with them, to ask them what they want from us in this moment."
- The Congressional Black Caucus is also calling for a meeting with Biden in the wake of Nichols' fatal beating.
What they're saying: "Everyone should agree people should be safe, safe in our communities and law enforcement has an obligation to do its job," Horsford said Sunday on MSNBC.
- Horsford said that the CBC aims to push for reforms to the justice system, specifically law enforcement, and hopes that a meeting with Biden could jumpstart those conversations.
- "We are calling on our colleagues in the House and Senate to jumpstart negotiations now and work with us to address the public health epidemic of police violence that disproportionately affects many of our communities," Horsford said in a statement.
The big picture: Horsford's remarks come after the city of Memphis released video depicting police fatally beating Nichols, a 29-year-old Black man, who died days after a violent arrest.
- "Like so many, I was outraged and deeply pained to see the horrific video of the beating that resulted in Nichols' death," Biden said in a statement on Friday evening.
Of note: The Tyre Nichols Memorial Fund, a GoFundMe page set up by his family on Friday to raise money for mental health services and a memorial skate park in his honor, had raised more than $1.1 million as protests against police brutality took place in cities across the U.S. on Sunday night.
Go deeper: Why Memphis' specialized police unit is under fire after Tyre Nichols' death
Editor's note: This article has been updated with details of the fund-raising page and the protests.
