MEMPHIS, TENN. — The death of Tyre Nichols still has people across the country asking what exactly happened that day leading up to the day he was stopped by police.

Pastor Bill Adkins of Greater Imani Church in Memphis, Tennessee, says the question that is still not getting answered is why Nichols was stopped by police.

"We are ashamed, we are dealing with hurt, churches across the neighborhoods. Memphis is in the worst shape since we lost Dr. King,” Adkins said.

Adkins says he is working with other community leaders to get justice for Nichols.

“Literally minutes ago, I got off the phone with District Attorney Steve Mulroy. They are working trying to pull all the pieces together. All kinds of theories are floating around. You’re hearing numerous things. The big why to why Tyre was pulled over has never ever been answered,” he said.

Adkins says it’s going to take conversations and a change in policing to stop police brutality.

“This has been going on too long. Since 2015, 135 African Americans, unarmed African Americans, have been killed by police,” he said.

Pastor Earle Fisher, another community leader, says it’s not about the race of the officers, it’s about the race of the men that keep getting killed by police.

Nichols’ family accepted an invitation to attend the State of the Union address next week, where President Joe Biden will likely address police reform.

According to data collected by the Washington Post, police shot and killed more than 1,000 people nationwide last year.

African Americans, who make up 13% of the U.S. population, accounted for 27% of those shot and killed by officers in 2021.

Blacks are twice as likely as whites to be shot and killed by police, according to Mapping Police Violence, a nonprofit group that tracks police shootings.