ENCINITAS — San Diego County skateboarders gathered on Saturday in Encinitas to honor Tyre Nichols, a man whose death at the hands of Memphis police officers last month has sparked renewed calls for change throughout the United States.
Nichols, a 29-year-old Black man, was severely beaten by five police officers on Jan. 7 during a traffic stop and died three days later at the hospital. Five officers involved in the incident have been charged with the death.
On Saturday, San Diego brands Sk8mafia and Elenex, along with Poway-based Finesse, hosted a Skate for Tyre event that drew dozens of local activists, community members and even professional skaters to the Encinitas Skate Plaza to honor Nichols, who was known as an avid skateboarder.
“For us, it’s a fallen brother because he was a skateboarder, one of us,” said Rod James, owner of Elenex. “Our brand is all about elevating the next generation, and when this tragic event happened, we said, ‘How can we give back and talk about the good about Tyre?’”
Elenex donated a group of white skate decks featuring Tyre’s name inside a red heart for community members to sign at the event.
“We’re gonna send them all to his family,” said Steve James, Rod’s twin brother and the founder of Finesse. “When I found out he was a skateboarder, I was like, ‘Oh man, I want to skate for him.’ That’s the one thing we knew we could do.”
Other Skate for Tyre events took place in cities throughout the country, including Memphis and Los Angeles.
