Media Contact: Patrick Wright -- Patrick.Wright@mail.house.gov
Washington, D.C. — Rep. Donald M. Payne, Jr. released the following statement today regarding the one-year anniversary of the death of George Floyd. On May 25, 2020, Floyd was murdered by Minneapolis Police Officer Derek Chauvin when Chauvin kneeled on Floyd’s neck for nine minutes and 29 seconds. His death caused anti-police brutality protests and calls for police reform nationwide. Those protests led to the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act of 2021, which the U.S. House of Representatives passed this year.
“George Floyd’s death forced millions of Americans to witness firsthand the police brutality that African Americans have faced every day for decades. Our country was founded on the belief that all men and women were created equal and have a universal right to life and liberty. But these repeated incidents erode our faith and trust in the rule of law and democracy.
The George Floyd Justice in Policing Act would strengthen the country’s commitment to equality and restore faith in our rule of law. It would stop this epidemic of unnecessary violence against African Americans and start to close an ugly chapter in American history. It would end racial profiling in law enforcement and ban chokeholds, which represents modern day lynching. Most important, it would end the qualified immunity that has protected the criminal behavior of some police officers. We need to stop the police behavior that allows officers to be judge, jury and executioner. Police officers must be held accountable for their actions. The Senate must pass this bill so we can stop the senseless murder of Africans Americans, like George Floyd, across the country. All lives will matter when Black lives matter.”
original source can be found here.
