Morehouse College help create ‘safe spaces’ for students amid video of officers beating Tyre Nichols

ATLANTA — Following video of the beating death of Tyre Nichols, Morehouse College is now helping students deal with any mental health issues associated with seeing the shocking video.

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“It’s traumatizing,” said Morehouse College junior, Aylon Gipson.

“It made me feel very sad as a black young man,” Gipson told Channel 2′s Audrey Washington on Monday. On Friday, Memphis Police released the body cam video.

In the Jan. 7 video, at least five Memphis Police officers are seen pepper spraying and beating Nichols. He died a few days later.

Last week, officials charged the five police officers involved with murder.

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“Seeing people who look like me die on social media, on a regular basis by the hands of the police,” said Morehouse College student, William Murphy.

“Trayvon Martin, George Floyd. It just compounds. It’s traumatizing,” explained Murphy.

Over the weekend, protesters took to the streets of Metro Atlanta and called for police accountability.

Porchse Miller headed one of the protests.

“This fight comes with a lot of mental health issues like PTSD, anxiety and things of that nature,” said Miller.

“It’s hard for me to sleep. I have a 26-year-old son, so Tyre is my son, my cousin, my uncle,” Civil Rights activist, Shenita Binns said.

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At Morehouse College, staff members are providing safe spaces for students to talk about feelings of anxiety and fear.

“You see that police officer coming up to your car and you’re always nervous, you’re always shaking,” Gipson explained.

He told Washington he has already attended some of the campus discussions.

“Different community organizations and groups on campus where we get to talk about those trauma issues,” said Gipson.

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