In just two days, an online campaign for Tyre Nichols’ family has raised over $1 million.
RowVaughn Wells, Nichols’ mother, established the GoFundMe with the modest objective of raising $10,000 for mental health therapy and to create a memorial skateboard park for her 29-year-old son, who was murdered by Memphis police officers.
It was the site’s leading fundraiser as of early Monday morning, having raised more than $1.1 million from more than 30,000 donors.
“My husband and I’s entire world has been turned upside down by what happened to our son,” Wells added, referring to the fact that police officers “beat him to death for no reason.”
She stated, “We are two hardworking, loving parents who must now devote our full attention to seeking justice for our son.”
They need assistance to “cover time off from our 9-to-5 jobs” through what would be a “long and arduous” grieving process, she said of the first $10,000 request that has been increased multiple times to allow for more donations.
“Additionally, we would like to construct a memorial skate park for Tyre in honor of his passion for skating and sunsets,” she said of her “gentle, kind, and joyful” son, Tyre, who was the father of a 4-year-old kid.
The FedEx employee “loved skating” and was regarded as someone who “wants to give you a hug when he walks through the door” and “wouldn’t hurt a fly,” she claimed.
The funds will be used to “create a memorial skate park for Tyre in honor of his passion for skating and sunsets,” according to his mother.
He had never been in legal trouble, not even with a parking ticket. He was a guy of integrity, a good son, and a gentleman to everybody. He was eccentric and true to himself, and his passing will be felt across the nation,” she wrote.
The fundraiser highlighted that Memphis’s chief of police has conceded there appears to be “no evidence to support” the initial decision to pull Nichols over for reckless driving, and that “Tyre was unarmed, nonthreatening, and respectful to police throughout the entire encounter!”
Regarding Nichols’ attempt to evade arrest, Wells said, “It turns out he was merely trying to get to my house for protection, which was only a few blocks away from the scene of the event.
“My infant was only trying to get home to be safe in my arms,” she wrote in a moving passage.
She stated, “I don’t want us to torch our cities and tear up our streets because that’s not what my son stood for.”
Five Memphis police officers were fired and later charged with second-degree murder: Tadarrius Bean, Demetrius Haley, Desmond Mills Jr., Emmett Martin III, and Justin Smith.
Some of the cops were members of the “Street Crimes Operation to Restore Peace in Our Neighborhoods” (SCORPION) team, which was later disbanded by the Tennessee police department.
»Fundraiser for Tyre Nichols surpasses $1M in just two days, 100 times its target«