LANSING, Mich. — Lawmakers with the Michigan Legislative Black Caucus gathered at the Capitol Tuesday in an effort to address police brutality following the murder of Tyre Nichols in Memphis.
The video of Tyre Nichols' being beaten to death by police officers in Memphis, Tennessee, brought powerful feelings to Lansing. Lawmakers used words like disgusted, angry, devastated and numb when asked to describe their feelings after seeing the footage of the brutal beating.
RELATED | 5 Memphis cops charged with murder in Tyre Nichols' death
"I hope that everyone was listening. Be reminded that that was somebodies baby boy. Be reminded that that was somebody's child," said 16th District state Rep. Stephanie Young.
At the press conference, these lawmakers introduced the first two steps in their immediate action plan to address the issue of police brutality across the state of Michigan.
"First, that we would rededicate ourselves to introducing robust policy to address the issues of police brutality in the state of Michigan," said Sen. Sarah Anthony, who represents District 21.
The second step involves partnerships with a diverse set of people and organizations who are pushing the agenda of safer communities.
"Those are all sensible things that we could do here in the Legislature to improve accountability that will hopefully lead to a culture in our policing agencies where someone will stand up and stop the murder of another innocent man," said Sen. Jeff Irwin, who represents Michigan's 15th District.
But their work doesn't stop there.
"None of that training in the world is going to solve implicit racial bias. We're gonna have to do some things internally and legislation literally hammered out in statute what can and can't be done," District 14 state Rep. Donovan McKinney said.
These lawmakers say new legislation regarding the policing will take time, but it is top priority.
RELATED | Tyre Nichols family, attorney to hold news conference after additional officers are relieved of duty
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