WSNA statement condemning the death of Tyre Nichols

The death of Tyre Nichols at the hands of police should never have happened. It is heart-rending that here we are, almost 3 years after the killings of Eric Garner, Breonna Taylor and George Floyd, and we continue to have incidents of Black people dying at the hands of police.

We have to keep saying it: Black lives matter.

We have entire communities who have to fear for their lives when they’re pulled over by police. This is just plain wrong. Rather than serving and protecting, police officers in this case brutally beat Tyre. He died three days later.

As nurses, we must acknowledge and act against the racism that infects our health care system. We know that people of color face systemic barriers to accessing health care and being listened to or heard. African American women face higher rates of maternal death, and African Americans have the highest death rate and shortest survival of any racial and ethnic group in the US for most cancers.

The Washington State Nurses Association stands in solidarity with all those who are calling for an end to systemic racism, racial violence and police brutality. We continue our work to educate and advocate for change.