Rep. Cori Bush (D-Mo.) has invited Michael Brown Sr., the father of a teenager who was shot and killed by a police officer in Missouri in 2014, to the State of the Union, Politico Playbook reported on Monday.
Brown’s son, Michael Brown, was a Black teenager who was fatally shot in an encounter with police in Ferguson, Mo. The incident sparked national outrage and protests across the country, including the Black Lives Matter movement.
The ex-police officer who shot Brown was not charged in connection to the shooting.
“The police killing of Michael Brown in 2014 is what propelled me and many others into lives dedicated to building a world where Mike would still be here with us — a world where his life could not be taken from him,” Bush told Playbook, before mentioning the recent police killing of Tyre Nichols in Memphis, Tenn. “A world where Tyre Nichols and the thousands of other Black people killed by police could live long, healthy lives full of joy.”
Nichols, a 29-year-old Black man, died last month as a result of his injuries from being beaten by a group of police officers. His death has pushed many lawmakers and officials to renew calls for police reform as thousands of protesters took to the streets in Memphis to advocate for racial justice.
Nichols’s parents will also be in attendance at President Biden’s State of the Union on Tuesday at the invitation of Rep. Steven Horsford (D-Nev.), the chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus.
Biden met with members of the Congressional Black Caucus last week and has called on Congress to pass a police reform bill, which may be echoed in his State of the Union speech on Tuesday.