Supporters and activists in Minnesota, across the US and around the globe remember the life of George Floyd on the one-year anniversary of his killing by police last year.
Floyd’s family meet with President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris at the White House as well as members of Congress, including Speaker Pelosi.
“I’m sending all my love to Gianna and to the rest of the Floyd family today,” former First Lady Michelle Obama said in a tweet. “Her dad did change the world, and now it’s up to the rest of us to continue changing it for the better.”
Philonise Floyd, the brother of George Floyd, spoke as he and members of the Floyd family met Tuesday with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Rep. Karen Bass, D-Calif., at the U.S. Capitol.
“They were lovely, they’re optimistic, they’re positive, but they’re determined that we will get something done.” House Speaker Nanci Pelosi said.
George Floyd’s family will direct money from its $27 million settlement with the city of Minneapolis to fund $500,000 in grants for businesses and other organizations in the community where Floyd was killed by police.
Floyd’s family will visit the President and Vice President at the White House in the early afternoon and then return to Capitol Hill for separate talks with New Jersey Senator Cory Booker and South Carolina Senator Tim Scott.
“While it is disappointing that we have been unable to come up with an agreement on police reform, we will take as long as need be to get this legislation right,” Minnesota Republican Representative Pete Stauber, who is also a former police officer, said in a statement. “I will never support bad legislation just for the chance to say that we got something done in this space.”
Efforts to pass police reform legislation by Tuesday’s anniversary have so far stalled in Congress, Axios and CNN report.
Mayor Bill de Blasio of New York joined the Rev. Al Sharpton in Harlem are poised to mark the anniversary of George Floyd’s death by kneeling in silence for nine minutes and 29 seconds — the time that Derek Chauvin held his knee on Floyd’s neck.
Meanwhile, back in Minneapolis, Police confirm one person was taken to the hospital after a shooting roughly one block from George Floyd Square. Witnesses on the scene said that they heard upwards of 30 shots. The gunfire came from the east of the square on 38th street and is believed to be gang related.
