VP Harris attends funeral of Tyre Nichols in Memphis

Vice President Kamala Harris attended the Wednesday funeral of Tyre Nichols in Memphis.

Harris addressed the congregation at the service and lamented Nichols's untimely death.

"Mothers around the world, when their babies are born, pray to God when they hold that child — that that body and life will be safe, for the rest of his life," Harris said, according to the New York Post. "Yet we have a mother and a father who mourn the life of a young man who should be here today."

"This violent act was not in pursuit of public safety... Was he not also entitled to the right to be safe?" she asked. "When we talk about public safety, let us understand what it means in its truest form. Tyre Nichols should've been safe."

Rev. Al Sharpton also spoke at the service and offered a fierce condemnation of the officers involved in the incident that led to Nichols' death.

"There's nothing more insulting and offensive to those of us that fight to open doors that you walk through those doors and act like the folks we had to fight for to get you through them doors," Sharpton said, per Yahoo! News. "You didn't get on the police department by yourself. The police chief didn't get there by herself. People had to march and go to jail, and some lost their lives to open the doors for you, and how dare you act like that sacrifice was for nothing!"

Nichols, a black man, died following an altercation with local police during which he sustained fatal injuries. Five officers, all black, lost their positions following the incident and face second-degree murder charges stemming from their handling of the situation.

Memphis later released body camera and pole camera footage of the incident which captured the violent incident in detail. The release of the footage prompted protests in the city.