George Floyd s family lobbies Biden for U.S. police reform on anniversary of death
By Jeff Mason and Nick Pfosi
Reuters
WASHINGTON/MINNEAPOLIS (Reuters) -A year after his killing sparked a national reckoning over U.S. racial injustice, George Floyd s relatives met on Tuesday with President Joe Biden at the White House and with lawmakers on Capitol Hill to urge passage of police reform legislation in their loved one s name.
Floyd, a 46-year-old Black man who died in handcuffs with his neck pinned to a Minneapolis street under a white police officer s knee, become the face of a national movement against police brutality and bias in the U.S. criminal justice system.
They mourned together and laughed together in the Oval Office and spoke of what President Joe Biden called "the hard reality that racism has long torn us apart."
A main point of contention is qualified immunity, which shields police officers from lawsuits in certain circumstances.. Read more at straitstimes.com.
The city stops to observe the one-year anniversary of Floyd s killing while in police custody. Written By: Matthew Guerry | ×
Members of George Floyd s family stand onstage Tuesday, May 25, 2021, during an event in downtown Minneapolis on the first anniversary of his death. (REUTERS / Eric Miller)
MINNEAPOLIS Members of George Floyd s family marked the one-year anniversary of his killing on Tuesday, May 25, by celebrating his life with a downtown festival in Minneapolis.
Speakers and attendees said that more reforms are needed in order to prevent deaths such as Floyd s, and that the reform movement is in danger of losing steam now that Derek Chauvin has been convicted of Floyd s murder.
Alexandra Jaffe and Alan Fram13:37, May 26 2021
They mourned together and laughed together in the Oval Office, and spoke of what US President Joe Biden called “the hard reality that racism has long torn us apart”. The first anniversary of George Floyd’s death was supposed to be a milestone moment in Washington, a time to mark the passage of a policing law to make criminal justice more just. Instead, Floyd’s family met with Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris at the White House to commemorate their loss and continue to push for legislation.
Evan Vucci/AP
Gianna Floyd, the daughter of George Floyd, walks out of the West Wing door at the White House.