Attorney Ben Crump is now addressing the congregation. He thanks the pastor, the clergy and Rev Sharpton for his eulogy.

Crump says that for every victim of police brutality, there are "a hundred other nameless black people being killed in America that nobody remembers".

He thanks Vice-President Kamala Harris for attending, saying: "She did not think it robbery to take time out of her busy schedule to come and comfort this black mother."

"Thank you, nadam vice-president. We will never forget this day."

Crump then encourages a standing ovation for local activists in Memphis for raising awareness of Nichols' case.

Next up, we're hearing from Ben Crump, the attorney representing Tyre Nichols' family, who gets a standing ovation as he approaches the microphone.

Crump's beginning his "call for justice" now.

Rev Sharpton is winding down his eulogy, and references a distressing moment from the footage of Tyre Nichols' arrest.

He says as someone raised by a single mother he was "particularly moved" when he heard Nichols calling out for his mother as officers beat him.

The reverend says black men understand that the "only thing between you and disaster is your mother" - and that deep in his heart, he "understands Tyre" for that reason.

If only the officers could "quit beating on him and stomping on him", he says, they might have realised that all he wanted "was to go home".

More from Reverend Al Sharpton now.

Speaking passionately about how police in America have treated the black community, he says police go ahead with these attacks because officers feel there is no accountability. They feel the black community will be angry for a day or two then move on.

Referencing previous killings, he says: “You think twice before you choke hold Eric Garner, you think twice before you put your knee on George Floyd’s neck. If you don’t have qualified immunity your wife will tell you to behave yourself. We might lose the car, the house our savings.”

“Let's get rid of qualified immunity,” he says, “Let’s see if the same manners you have on the white side of town, you have on the black side of town”.

He then asks why police keep crime down on one side of Memphis without beating people to death. He says he believes if Tyre Nichols were white, he would not have been beaten like that.

Sharpton's eulogy came to a climactic moment calling for justice for Tyre, with several in the congregation standing up and applauding.

Then, the reverend hit a new sombre tone, reminiscing on the day Martin Luther King was shot and killed.

Referring to the George Floyd bill Kamala Harris mentioned earlier, Sharpton says: "Those of you who keep voting against that bill - we are going to vote against you. We got more numbers than the police union."

This is met with applause and cheers from the congregation.

"I believe babies unborn know about Tyre Nichols because we will not let his memory die," Sharpton continues.

"We are going to change this country because we refuse to keep living under the threat of the cops and the robbers."

As Rev Sharpton continues his eulogy, members of the congregation can be heard cheering and voicing their assent.

Talking about the fact that Tyre Nichols died in Memphis - a key city for the civil rights movement, and the last place Martin Luther King gave a speech - Rev Sharpton says: "You have the unmitigated gall to beat your brother? Chase him down and beat him some more?"

Addressing the policemen involved in Nichols' death, he says they had "no empathy and no concern".

Rev Sharpton also mentions the fact that emergency services took 20 minutes to attend the scene - "waiting on an ambulance service that didn't show up until it was too late".

Following that unexpected interlude from Vice-President Harris, it's back to Rev Sharpton, who's talking about growing up in the Martin Luther King movement.

He says that, this morning, he took his daughter to see the balcony in Memphis where Luther-King was killed.

Rev Sharpton says the murder of Nichols is "so personal" to him because he was killed by "five black men that wouldn't have had a job in the police department" if it weren't for King.

"In the city that Dr King lost his life.... not far away from the balcony.... you beat a brother to death," he says of the officers.

"There's nothing more insulting and offensive," he says, adding the officers acted like the "folks we had to fight to get you through the door".

"How dare you," Rev Sharpton adds.

Chelsea Bailey
BBC News, Washington

Image source, Getty Images

Kamala Harris just spoke at the funeral of Tyre Nichols and used a portion of her remarks to call on Congress to pass the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act. What exactly is it?

In the wake of George Floyd’s murder at the hands of police, US lawmakers proposed a bill that would implement a range of reforms aimed at making police departments and officers more accountable for their actions.

It would include:

• Change the legal standard to convict a police officer of misconduct charges in federal court
• Limit ‘qualified immunity’ in civil cases. Currently, police officers and government officials are shielded from liability from constitutional rights violations because they have what is known as “qualified immunity.” The bill would lower that standard in civil cases
• Restrict use of tactics like no-knock warrants and chokeholds
• Create a national registry of police officer misconduct

The George Floyd Justice in Policing Act was first proposed in 2021 but never passed. In the wake of Tyre Nichols' death, President Joe Biden has once again called on Congress to pass the bill. But many experts feel its chances of becoming a law are dim given that Congress is divided between Democrats and Republicans.

Kamala Harris ends by saying that as vice-president of the United States, she is demanding that Congress pass the George Floyd Justice and Policing Act.

She says Joe Biden will sign it and adds that it should not be delayed, saying this is non-negotiable

Kamala Harris continues: "His brothers and sisters will lose the love of growing old with their baby brother.

"And when we look at the situation - this is a family that lost their son and their brother through an act of violence at the hands and the feet of people who had been charged with keeping them safe," Harris says.

She says: "And when I think about the courage and the strength of this family. it demands that we speak truth, This violent act was not in pursuit of public safety. It was not in the interest of keeping public safe..."

Was Tyre Nichols not also entitled to be safe, she asks.

"So when we talk about public safety let us understand what it means."

Image source, Reuters

Vice-President Kamala Harris says that when parents first hold their baby, they hope that he or she will "be safe" forever.

But in the case of Tyre Nichols' family, they now "mourn the life of a young man".

They have a grandson who now does not have a father, Harris tells the congregation.

Reverend Al Sharpton lists the delegation that's been sent to the funeral from the White House

Vice-President Kamala Harris is given a standing ovation from those assembled. He mentions that she made it despite the heavy snow.

And then in an unexpected move, he invites Harris to address the congregation. We'll bring you more details as soon as we can.

Back to Rev Sharpton now - who thanks the families of other black Americans who've been killed by police officers for coming to the service.

"They know what it is to sit at a funeral like this," he says.

George Floyd's family are present, he says, asking them to stand, to an applause.

He also thanks the mothers of Eric Garner and Breana Taylor for coming.

In the past few minutes, we've been shown the first images of Vice-President Kamala Harris attending today's funeral for Tyre Nichols.

Image source, Getty Images

As the congregation sits down after a rousing choir performance, Rev Al Sharpton begins his eulogy.

He thanks the church's pastor and Tyre Nichols' family.

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, Reuters

A photographic tribute to Tyre Nichols' life has been shown, including the following quote from him:

"My vision is to bring viewers deep into what I’m seeing through my eye and through my lens."

We see pictures from throughout his life. From Tyre as a baby and school photos, through to him skateboarding as an adult. Images Tyre took himself are then displayed - as previously mentioned, he was a keen photographer.

There’s a photo of Tyre up a mountain and one of him with his mum and one with his young baby.

The tribute is interspersed with photos of shrines across America in his memory and of protesters demanding justice after his death.

Rev Dr J Lawrence Turner is up again - but only briefly as he introduces Rev Al Sharpton - who he says "needs no introduction". Rev Sharpton, he says, is a man who "knows the times" and does what he can to "shine a light on injustice" in the US.

Rev Sharpton will be coming up to deliver the eulogy shortly, after another song by the choir.

Image source, Reuters

Very soon we'll be hearing from Rev Al Sharpton, who's delivering today's eulogy. His name has become synonymous with cases like Tyre Nichols' - where people die at the hands of police officers.

He previously spoke at the funerals of Eric Garner - whose dying words "I can't breathe" in 2019 became a rallying cry for protests against police brutality - Michael Brown and George Floyd.

Rev Sharpton is a renowned civil rights leader and is known for founding the National Action Network. He's spent the majority of his life calling for structural change, such as police reforms and education equality, and has long been associated with the fight against police brutality in the US.

After Nichols' family asked him to give the eulogy at today's service, multiple US outlets reported that Rev Sharpton had said it would be his honour.

In one interview, he told MSNBC that he had almost lost count of all the eulogies he has delivered for those killed by police officers.

Tiffany Rachal, the mother of Jalen Randle, a man who died after being shot by police in Houston, Texas, in April 2022, is up next.

In a short, emotional address, she offers her condolences to Tyre Nichols' family and says that "mothers all over the world need to come together and stop all of this".

She dedicates the next song to the family.