Artist turns to art to cope with brutal death of Tyre Nichols: “I guess it was overwhelming to me”

By Marissa Armas

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    Colorado (KCNC) — Using a brush and some paint, chalk and a mural, artist Randy Segura, captured his feelings with a large painting this week.

“I guess it was overwhelming to me,” Segura told CBS News Colorado. “When I was putting it on there, I felt bad. I was crying.”

Capturing the warmth and the whites of the eye, Segura used art to process the death of Tyre Nichols.

Segura pulled out a canvas, set it up in his garage and began painting.

Just a week ago, officials released the traumatic body camera footage of deputies beating the 29-year-old that ultimately resulted in his death.

For Segura, it’s been difficult to cope with.

“He was just another man; he was somebody’s baby,” Segura said. “Just the graphicness of it really pushed me over the edge and made me think of my children, who could possibly be in a situation like that. Just watching the way, he was treated by people who are supposed to be there to protect and serve, it just seemed wrong.”

And coping with graphic videos like the footage of Nichols’ arrest is growing tougher on the community.

Dr. Patricia Westmoreland, a psychiatrist at HealthONE Behavioral Health and Wellness Center, says continued exposure to these videos can cause vicarious trauma.

“I think it’s especially traumatizing, if we are members of a minority group, whether it be by ethnicity, by the color of our skin, by our religion, and we see that happen to somebody in our own community, or even in another community, it makes us vulnerable, it makes us fear our own safety and the safety of our children,” Westmoreland said. “Watching those images can actually create very excessive depression, or anxiety, or even post-traumatic stress.”

Which is why Westmoreland said finding an outlet to release those feelings is critical and it’s one that Segura understands all too well.

For him, it’s about lending his voice to someone who was taken too soon.

“We as a people can do better, and I think we have to collectively, consciously make an effort to say we’ve had enough,” Segura said.

Westmoreland says tips to help address these feelings include checking on yourself, limiting time on social media and TV, or even finding an activity or hobbies such as working out, art, etc.

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