George Floyd's family marked the fourth anniversary of his murder by renewing their call for Congress to pass legislation to reform policing in the United States.
“Change is necessary,” Philonise Floyd, brother of George Floyd, said at a press conference Thursday, where Democratic lawmakers announced their latest effort to pass the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act.
The legislation passed the then-Democratic House in June 2020 but stalled in the Senate.
Democratic Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee reintroduced the bill on Thursday, days before the fourth anniversary of Floyd's murder. She calls for holding law enforcement accountable for misconduct in court, police training and political reforms.
“We have the opportunity to implement bold and comprehensive reform of police practices to correct and prevent unnecessary deaths. Congress must pass the George Floyd #JusticeInPolicingAct of 2024,” Rep. Jackson Lee wrote in a Facebook post.
Philonise Floyd agreed.
“In their minds, they (the police) are looking at you as a target just because you are black,” he said. “At the end of the day, if they can create federal laws to protect one bird, which is the bald eagle (the national symbol of the United States), then they can create federal laws to protect people of color.”
George Floyd, a 46-year-old black man, was killed on May 25, 2020, while in police custody. Derek Chauvin, a white police officer, was filmed kneeling on Floyd's neck and back for nearly nine minutes as Floyd pleaded for help and said he couldn't breathe.
The following year, Chauvin was convicted of murder and manslaughter in a state trial and sentenced to more than 22 years in prison. He later pleaded guilty in federal court to depriving Floyd of his civil rights.
Three other former Minneapolis police officers also faced state and federal charges and were sentenced to prison for their roles in Floyd's murder.
Speaking at Thursday's press conference, Democratic Rep. Ilhan Omar, who represents Minneapolis, called on her fellow lawmakers to “think about the lives that could have been spared if we had the courage to act.”
“We need a clear national standard to deliver on the promise of equal protection under the law,” she said.
The murder of George Floyd sparked a wave of protests against racial injustice and police brutality across the world. Four years later, Floyd's death still feels fresh to his family, who have joined Black Americans urged to take action after their loved ones were killed by police.
“I promised myself while watching that video (of his death) that I needed to do something. And I haven’t stopped doing it,” Floyd’s uncle, Selwyn Jones, told CNN .
Jones joined Gwen Carr, mother of Eric Garner, an unarmed black man who was also killed by police in 2014, to talk about how they turned their pain into purposeful activism at Harvard University.
Jones said he co-founded Hope929.org, a charity dedicated to empowering people marginalized by society, to bring about change in honor of his nephew.
“What I can do is take the atrocity he suffered that day and make a difference,” he said.
But he is not optimistic about the fate of the legislation.
“I'm frustrated because I don't think it will ever be approved. And if that happens, it will have to be very diluted, but we were promised that this project would be approved,” he said.
Jones said he and his family will continue to elevate Floyd's legacy. He said he plans to attend a celebration honoring Floyd this weekend in Charlotte, North Carolina.
“It’s going to be like it used to be,” Jones said. “Let’s all sit down and eat, drink, be merry and take care of each other.”
Source: CNN Brasil
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