(NewsNation) — Lori Volker, a family friend of Tyre Nichols’, said that Nichols would want people “to unite to bring peace.”
Volker considered herself a second mother to Nichols, as he lived with her family for several years, off and on.
“Tyre was just a really loving person. He loved everybody,” Nichols said during an exclusive interview Saturday with “NewsNation Prime.” “He always was a brother to our kids. … Tyre always accepted them for exactly who they were. That’s the kind of person that he was. He loved everybody and made friends everywhere,” Volker said.
In a Facebook post, Volker shared a screenshot of a loving text exchange between herself and Nichols.
I’m just devastated. I can’t watch the videos. I know it would break my heart. I know so many mothers feel this heartbreak as a mother would. He was good in this world. Tyre would want us to unite to bring peace.
He would remind us that these men had a choice. As do we, and he would tell us to choose to love each other. He’d say stop killing each other, with a badge or without. This world is in too much pain for us to continue hurting each other. We can choose love.
Lori Volker on Facebook
Volker said that most of her family has chosen not to watch the body camera footage.
Watch the full interview with Volker, and her husband Marvin, in the player above.