DENVER — Bitter cold temperatures did not stop demonstrators from showing up to the Colorado State Capitol Saturday afternoon for day two of protesting the police killing of Tyre Nichols.
The protest comes two days after the Memphis Police Department released graphic body camera footage showing the brutal police beating of Nichols.
The gut-wrenching video has been seen across the country. It is reviving calls for police reform at the Colorado State Capitol and all around the country.
A group of demonstrators did not let the freezing temperatures stop them from getting their message across in Denver over the weekend.
Denver7 spoke with Jonce Palmer, who is the chair of the Denver-Aurora Community Action Committee and helped organize the protest.
"We want to see all five of the officers who killed Tyree Nichols convicted of criminal charges. We want to see a permanent end to the Scorpion Program in Memphis. They've already been temporarily disbanded. We need to make sure that that program is completely over," Palmer said.
The five former Memphis police officers have been charged with second-degree murder and other crimes in the arrest and death of Nichols.
The Shelby County Sheriff's Office online records show that Tadarrius Bean, Demetrius Haley, Desmond Mills, Jr., Emmitt Martin III and Justin Smith were in custody.
"It's important for us to come out here today, not only because of what's happening in Memphis because of what's happening around the country," Palmer said.
"This is a systemic issue of racist political repression against Black and brown indigenous people in our community. And it's not going to stop until we have a serious reckoning with policing in this country," Palmer said.
U.S. President Joe Biden said he told Nichols’ mother he would be “making a case” to Congress to pass the Floyd Act “to get this under control.”
