NEW ORLEANS — A group of Loyola students held a candlelight vigil at Audubon Park Wednesday to honor the life of 29-year-old Tyre Nichols.
Last month, Nichols died in the hospital three days after being brutally beaten by five Memphis police officers.
The students said they held the vigil because they couldn’t find an outlet to share their feelings about Nichols’ death.
“We are angry, sad and exhausted,” Camila Johnson said. “It never gets easier.”
“It just makes me feel kind of helpless,” said another student during an open mic.
Some students expressed their frustration through poetry, others just pleaded for violence to end.
The five officers involved have been charged in Nichols’ death. Last week the bodycam footage of the encounter was released to the public.
“It's sad that they have to see videos of black people suffering to know what we are facing,” said organizer Maya Davis.
Davis and her fellow students created an organization called the NOLA Youth Action Network.
Their goal is to find solutions surrounding systemic racism, issues dealing with poverty and violence against the black community.
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