George Floyd's brother implores US Congress to act on police reform
WASHINGTON, United States — The brother of George Floyd, whose killing by police sparked worldwide protests against racism, made an emotional plea to the US Congress Wednesday to "stop the pain" and pass reforms that reduce police brutality.
One day after burying his brother in Houston, Philonise Floyd appeared in person before a House hearing, where he described the anguish of watching a viral video of George's death and demanded lawmakers act to fix law enforcement problems including systemic racism.
"I'm here to ask you to make it stop. Stop the pain," the younger Floyd said.
"I can't tell you the kind of pain you feel when you watch... your big brother, who you looked up to your whole entire life, die — die begging for his mom," he said.
"He didn't deserve to die over $20," he said, referring to his brother's alleged effort to use a counterfeit bill before his arrest.
"I'm asking you: is that what a black man is worth, $20?" Floyd thundered. "This is 2020. Enough is enough."
Floyd, who wore an anti-virus mask bearing an image of his brother, wiped his forehead and fought back tears as he implored lawmakers to "listen to the call" he and protesters were making for justice.
"Maybe by speaking with you today, I can make sure that his death will not be in vain."
'The pain of America'
George Floyd, 46, died in police custody in Minneapolis on May 25, when a white officer, who has since been charged with murder, pressed his knee on Floyd's neck for nearly nine minutes.
Protests — some violent, most peaceful — erupted nationwide in some of the most serious US civil unrest in generations.
Lawmakers united in expressions of sorrow and support for Floyd, with longtime House Republican Jim Sensenbrenner telling him: "The pain of your brother I think has become the pain of America."
The five-hour-plus hearing came after congressional Democrats unveiled a package of reforms this week aimed at ending police brutality.
The legislation would ban choke holds, make it easier to prosecute officers for abuse, require anti-racism training and bar fired personnel from working in police forces in other districts.
It would also restrict police departments' use of qualified immunity, which shields officers from being held personally responsible for wrongdoing.
"If there is no accountability," Floyd family lawyer Benjamin Crump said, police brutality and other abuse "will keep happening."
House Judiciary Committee chairman Jerry Nadler said that while most cops were decent and law-abiding, there was a "systemic problem" in law enforcement that requires comprehensive solutions.
"The nation demands and deserves meaningful change," Nadler said.
Killers 'will face justice'
With lawmakers agreeing on the need for a genuine discussion about police treatment of African Americans, several Republicans including Jim Jordan expressed their desire to enact reforms.
"It's as wrong as wrong can be," Jordan told Philonise Floyd about George's death, "and your brother's killers will face justice."
Lawmakers heard too from the sister of a security officer who recently died in Oakland, California in a shooting blamed on protesters.
"We will never solve generational, systemic injustice with looting, burning, destruction of property and killing in the name of justice," said Angela Underwood Jacobs, who extended her condolences to Floyd's brother.
She also described as "ridiculous" calls by leftist activists to "defund the police," an effort that has been attacked by President Donald Trump and Republicans as dangerous and misguided.
Tensions rose during an exchange between House Democrat Hakeem Jeffries and Dan Bongino, a conservative radio host and former Secret Service officer.
Jeffries noted how several white accused mass murderers were arrested without incident while many unarmed black Americans have been killed in police encounters.
"I don't know why you're making a racial thing of it," Bongino said.
"Because black lives matter, sir," Jeffries said, shooting Bongino a withering look.
"Yeah, all lives matter, sir," Bongino countered.
Meanwhile in Minneapolis, Police Chief Medaria Arradondo said he was launching reforms to provide "a new paradigm of peacekeeping" for the community.
The move is an apparent bid to appease the city council which recently pledged to dismantle the police force.
Los Angeles, Philadelphia and Atlanta were among several US cities to announce curfews Saturday in a bid to stem violent anti-police protests breaking out across America.
A nighttime curfew was also implemented in Louisville, Kentucky as the United States continues to be rocked by demonstrators angry at the death of a black man during an arrest in Minneapolis on Monday.
George Floyd was handcuffed and died after a police officer knelt on his neck for nearly nine minutes, sparking the widespread protests against police brutality. — AFP
Photo: Demonstrators confront secret service police officers outside of the White House on May 30, 2020 in Washington DC, during a protest over the death of George Floyd, an unarmed black man, who died after a Minneapolis police officer kneeled on his neck for several minutes. Demonstrations are being held across the US after George Floyd died in police custody on May 25. Jose Luis Magana / AFP
Derek Chauvin, the former Minneapolis police officer convicted of the murder of George Floyd, was sentenced to more than 20 years in prison on Thursday on federal charges.
Chauvin, who is white, pleaded guilty in December 2021 to violating the civil rights of Floyd, a 46-year-old Black man, during his May 2020 arrest for allegedly using a counterfeit $20 bill to buy a pack of cigarettes.
Chauvin is already serving a 22-and-a-half-year sentence after being convicted of state murder charges for Floyd's death, which sparked protests against racial injustice and police brutality across the United States. — AFP
Several hundred protesters marched Sunday in Akron, Ohio after the release of body camera footage that showed police fatally shooting a Black man with several dozen rounds of bullets.
As anger rose over the latest police killing of a Black man in the United States, and authorities appealed for calm, a crowd marched to City Hall carrying banners with slogans such as "Justice for Jayland."
The slogan refers to Jayland Walker, 25, who was killed Monday after officers tried to stop his car over a traffic violation, police said.
Sunday marked the fourth straight day of protests. Demonstrations were peaceful but for a tense moment in which some protesters got close to a line of police and shouted at them.
After the first rally, a crowd of people remained in the street protesting.
Fearing potential unrest, authorities in the city of 190,000 people moved snowplows and other heavy equipment near the police department to serve as a barrier.
After initially providing few details of the shooting, Akron authorities released two videos Sunday: one that was a compilation of body-camera footage, body-cam still frames and voiceover, and another of the complete body-cam footage of the entire chase and shooting.
The voiceover explained that Walker did not stop and drove off. Police engaged in a car chase and said a shot had been fired from Walker's vehicle.
After being chased for several minutes, Walker got out of his car while it was still moving and fled on foot. Officers tried to subdue him with their tasers, but he kept running.
Several officers finally chased Walker to a parking lot. The body-cam footage is too blurry to see clearly what happens, but an initial police statement released after the shooting says he behaved in a way that caused officers to believe he posed a "deadly threat."
All of the officers at the scene opened fire on Walker, shooting multiple times in rapid succession.
He was pronounced dead at the scene. — AFP
A Minnesota jury begins deliberating the fate of three former police officers charged with violating the civil rights of George Floyd, the African American man whose murder sparked nationwide protests.
Tou Thao, 36, J. Alexander Kueng, 28, and Thomas Lane, 38, are on trial in federal court in Saint Paul for their roles in Floyd's May 2020 death in the sister city of Minneapolis.
"It's your duty to find the facts," Judge Paul Magnuson tells the jury of eight women and four men, "and then apply the law."
"Don't allow sympathy or prejudice to influence you," the judge says before sending the jurors off to begin their deliberations. — AFP
Sculptures of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor, two Black Americans whose deaths at the hands of police in 2020 rocked the United States, are to be auctioned for charity after being exhibited in New York, Sotheby's said Thursday.
The pieces will be on sale online until December 17 and the profits will go to associations founded by the families of the two victims, "We are Floyd" and "The Breonna Taylor Foundation," Sotheby's said.
The two statues are the work of artist Chris Carnabuci, while the statue of Taylor has been decorated by Brooklyn-based Nigerian artist Laolu Senbanjo, also known as Laolu NYC, who has worked with Beyonce in the past.
The golden statue of George Floyd, who was killed last May at age 46 when a white Minneapolis police officer knelt on his neck for some nine minutes, had been vandalized with spray paint while on display in Union Square in Manhattan.
It has since been cleaned up, and the 1.8 meter (six foot) sculpture is expected go for between $100,000 and $150,000. — AFP
A US court has handed down a four-year sentence to a former police officer charged with illegally beating a Black undercover colleague posing as a protester at a 2017 demonstration.
A federal judge on Tuesday sentenced Randy Hays, 34, to more than four years in jail after the former cop pleaded guilty in 2019 to using excessive and unreasonable force, according to court documents.
Hays, along with former officers Dustin Boone and Christopher Myers were accused of knocking to the ground an undercover officer who was monitoring protesters, and then kicking and striking the officer with a police baton.
On Thursday, another former officer, Bailey Colletta, was given a three-year suspended sentence for lying to a federal grand jury during its investigation of the incident.
Boone was found guilty by a jury in June and is due to be sentenced on September 15, exactly four years after the incident. — AFP
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