MEMPHIS, Tenn. — The attorney representing the family of Tyre Nichols was honored by the national NAACP Saturday night.
Attorney Ben Crump accepted the NAACP’s Social Justice Impact Award and vowed to never stop fighting racism and discrimination in the classroom and courtroom.
“I promise I will use this social justice award as greater incentive to fight against the legalized genocide of colored people and vow never stop fighting racism and discrimination when it rears its ugly head,” Crump said during his acceptance speech.
Crump has been at the forefront of many high-profile cases, including the recent police beating of Tyre Nichols.
“We are prepared to fight for black history in and outside the courtroom just as hard as we will continue to fight for the George Floyds of the world, for the Breonna Taylor of the world, for the Ahmaud Arberys of the world, for the Trevon Martins of the world and now for the Tyre Nichols of the world,” he said.
Vickie Terry, the Executive Director of the Memphis chapter of the NAACP, said Crump is deserving of the award and she’s not surprised he mentioned Tyre Nichols.
“It made me think that Tyre is on the top of the list. This is something that making them push forward and the list of lives to police violence continues to grow longer and longer,” Terry said.
Crump is also representing Tyre Nichols’ family and has said Memphis has a chance to implement change when it comes to police reform.
“I think when Ben Crump was here said Memphis will be a blueprint for this fight and think this is what’s going to happen. We will be at the top of making things happen for the country,” Terry said.
During his speech, Crump also said, “We will not let elected officials exterminate our history, our literature, or our culture.”