Biden to discuss police reform with Congressional Black Caucus members Thursday

The Congressional Black Caucus will meet with President Joe Biden at the White House on Thursday to discuss police reform in the wake of the fatal beating of Tyre Nichols by police in Memphis, Tennessee.

The Congressional Black Caucus said earlier this week that it had requested a meeting with the president to "push for negotiations on much needed national reforms to our justice system - specifically, the actions and conduct of our law enforcement," according to a statement from Rep. Steven Horsford, D-Nev., the caucus chair.

Horsford called on lawmakers in the House and Senate to "jumpstart negotiations now and work with us to address the public health epidemic of police violence that disproportionately affects many of our communities."

"The brutal beating of Tyre Nichols was murder and is a grim reminder that we still have a long way to go in solving systemic police violence in America," Horsford said, announcing the request to meet with the president.

The caucus confirmed Tuesday that its meeting with Biden was set for Thursday and will include Horsford and a small group of attendees, not the entire caucus. The specific attendees and exact timing of the meeting have not been confirmed.

The White House also told reporters about the upcoming meeting.

"President Biden spoke yesterday with Representative Horsford and plans to host a small group of Congressional Black Caucus members at the White House this Thursday to discuss police reform legislation and other shared priorities," Olivia Dalton, White House principal deputy press secretary, told reporters aboard Air Force One on Tuesday.

"President Biden is committed to doing everything in his power to adjust, to ensure our criminal justice system lives up to the promise of fair and impartial justice, equal treatment, and dignity for all," Dalton added.

Several White House officials are scheduled to attend the funeral for Nichols on Wednesday, Dalton said.

News of Biden's meeting with the Congressional Black Caucus comes amid a resurgence of demands for policing and gun control measures in response to the brutal beating of Nichols as well as a mass shooting at a dance hall in Monterey Park, California, this month.

The parents of of Nichols and the man who disarmed the suspected Monterey Park shooter have been invited to attend the president's State of the Union address Feb. 7.

The president last week spoke by phone with Nichols' mother and stepfather, RowVaughn Wells and Rodney Wells, who were allowed a private viewing of the video showing the brutal beating of Nichols by Memphis police before it was released last week. Biden expressed his condolences for Nichols' death and commended the family's courage and strength, the White House said.

The president also said he was "outraged and deeply pained" in response to videos of the beating. In a statement shortly after the videos were released, he called the images "horrific."

"It is yet another painful reminder of the profound fear and trauma, the pain, and the exhaustion that Black and Brown Americans experience every single day," Biden said.

This article was originally published on NBCNews.com

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