Pickets to commemorate Tyra Nichols in Southwest Florida

FORT MYERS, Florida. The aftermath of the fatal beating of 29-year-old Trie Nichols in Memphis continues.

The police department announced that several more officers had been suspended in connection with the case, bringing the total to seven.

The fire department also fired two SMPs and a lieutenant. The ambulance was fired for failing to provide basic assistance to Nichols as he lay leaning against a police car in apparent distress, and the lieutenant for not getting out of the car.

Nichols’ funeral will be held Wednesday in Memphis, and Reverend Al Sharpton is expected to deliver the eulogy.

In downtown Fort Myers, outside the public library, a vigil will be held to honor Nichols’ life.

“Of course, we are not related by blood to Tyr Nichols, but there is a collective mourning,” said Shantel Rhodes, one of the organizers of the vigil.

This collective mourning is one of the key reasons she says is behind the vigil for the 29-year-old.

“Recently, the city of Fort Myers has been showing social justice in a way that I don’t think we’ve seen in a very long time,” Rhodes said.

Photo Credit: Shantel Rhodes

The movement, she says, began in 2020 after the death of George Floyd. She added that the vigil is for the community to come together to mourn and support those who stand for justice.

“There was nothing legal about what they did,” Dr. David Thomas said.

Thomas is a former chief of police and currently a professor of forensic medicine at FGCU. He says that with the release of the video showing moments leading up to Nichols’ death, he feels the conversation is shifting to the system.

“In the past, the media has always paid attention to the fact that it is black and white, it has always been about race,” said Dr. Thomas. “For the first time you see that it’s about police culture.”

Thomas says culture means specialized units, such as the now-disbanded Scorpion Unit that stopped Nichols, not the entire police department.

The Fort Myers Police Department, which has placed particular emphasis on officer training, responded to Wednesday’s vigil.

Specifically, the agency stated:

“The FMPD is always ready to ensure that anyone who wants to exercise their First Amendment right has a safe place to do so. We have a successful track record of working with protesters to make sure their voices are heard, keeping them and our community safe. We call on everyone who wants to realize their
the right to do so peacefully.”

Photo courtesy of Fort Myers Police.

“I can honestly say that I appreciate their efforts to make sure the community feels fair in its time,” Rhodes said. “I remember when Chief Diggs suggested a similar situation where George Floyd was killed and that told us they were ready to open that door to talk.”