WASHINGTON: The brother of George Floyd, whose killing by police sparked worldwide protests towards racism, made an emotional plea to the US Congress Wednesday to “stop the pain” and go reforms that scale back police brutality.
Sooner or later after burying his brother in Houston, Philonise Floyd appeared in particular person earlier than a Home listening to, the place he described the anguish of watching a viral video of George’s dying and demanded lawmakers tackle the systemic issues in legislation enforcement.
“I’m here to ask you to make it stop. Stop the pain. Stop us from being tired,” the youthful Floyd mentioned, wiping his brow and holding again tears.
“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 mentioned.
“He didn’t deserve to die, over $20,” he mentioned, referring to his brother’s alleged effort to make use of a counterfeit invoice earlier than his arrest.
“I’m asking you: is that what a black man is worth, $20?” Floyd thundered.
“This is 2020. Enough is enough.” Floyd described how his brother’s repeated requires assist have been ignored.
“Please listen to the call I’m making to you now, to the call of our family and the calls ringing out in the streets across the world,” mentioned Floyd, who wore an anti-virus masks bearing a picture of his brother.
“Maybe by speaking with you today, I can make sure that his death will not be in vain.” George Floyd, 46, died in police custody in Minneapolis on Could 25, when a white officer pressed his knee on his neck for practically 9 minutes.
Video of the abuse went viral, and protests — some violent, most peaceable — erupted from coast to coast in a number of the most critical US civil unrest in generations. The testimony got here two days after congressional Democrats unveiled a package deal of sweeping reforms geared toward decreasing systemic racism in US legislation enforcement.
The laws seeks to finish police brutality partly by making it simpler to prosecute officers for abuse, requiring anti-racism coaching and barring fired officers from working in police forces in different districts.
Home Judiciary Committee chairman Jerry Nadler mentioned that whereas most cops have been respectable and law-abiding, he acknowledged the necessity to tackle a “systemic problem” in legislation enforcement that requires a complete answer.
“If there is one thing I have taken away from the tragic events of the last month, it is that the nation demands and deserves meaningful change,” Nadler mentioned.
The panel’s prime Republican Jim Jordan joined in saying it was “time for a real discussion” about police therapy of African Individuals, within the newest signal that Republicans additionally need to make modifications to the system.
“It’s as wrong as wrong can be,” Jordan advised Philonise Floyd about George’s dying, “and your brother’s killers will face justice.” Lawmakers additionally heard from the sister of a protecting companies officer who was killed final month in Oakland, California in a capturing blamed on protesters.
“Every day the actions of a few are dividing us as a nation at a time when we should be coming together and uniting for the well-being of all people,” Angela Underwood Jacobs advised the listening to.
Printed in Daybreak, June 11th, 2020
