Nancy Pelosi claimed Monday morning that George Floyd is a ‘martyr’ of police brutality as Democrats kneeled for a moment of silence before unveiling a massive police reform bill.
‘The martyrdom of George Floyd gave American experience a moment of national anguish as we grieve for the black Americans killed by police brutality,’ the House Speaker said at the podium. ‘Today this movement of national anguish is being transformed into a movement of national action as Americans from across the country peacefully protest to demand an end to injustice.’
‘The martyrdom of George Floyd,’ she said later in the briefing, ‘has made a change in the world.’
Pelosi said Democrats in Congress are ‘standing with those fighting for justice and action,’ and mentioned other black Americans she say are ‘martyrs’ who have died at the hands of police brutality.
‘Let us, my colleagues, just go over some of those names of martyrdom,’ she said, before listing names like George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, Freddie Gray, Michael Brown, Eric Garner, Trayvon Martin and several others.
A team of Democrats, all wearing kente cloths to either honor or stand in solidarity with those with African heritage, gathered for a press conference to reveal details of the bill, claiming the piece of legislation will combat police brutality, especially with the black community.
Members of the Congressional Black Caucus memorably did not boycott Donald Trump’s State of the Union address in 2018, and instead wore brightly colored yellow, green, black and red kente cloths around their shoulders after the president infamously referred to Haiti and some African nations as ‘s***hole counties.’
The unveiling of the proposed legislation follows two weeks of protests across the country in the wake of George Floyd’s death.
Ahead of the press conference, Democrats held a moment of silence at the Capitol for eight minute and 46 seconds – the same amount of time former cop Derek Chauvin had his knee lodged on the back of Floyd’s neck.
‘We were there for eight minutes and 46 seconds on our knees. My members will attest it’s a very long time,’ Pelosi said. ‘It’s a very long time, and I graciously led them in falling over when it was over so that they could do the same thing, but here we are.’
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi asserted Monday morning that George Floyd is a ‘martyr’ of police brutality – and claims his death at the hands of a white cop ‘has made a change in the world’
A team of Democrats gathered to unveil a sweeping police reform bill at the Capitol Monday morning – and ahead of the legislation reveal, the lawamkers observed a moment of silence for Floyd
The law makers kneeled for eight minutes and 46 seconds – the same amount of time white cop Derek Chauvin had his knee lodged on the back of Floyd’s neck during his arrest late last month
‘We were there for eight minutes and 46 seconds on our knees,’ Pelosi said at the briefing on the legislation. ‘My members will attest it’s a very long time’
The lawmakers maintained social distancing guidelines for the moment of silence and https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCGQmSM64xrKTWkaI87NwW1Q/ wore face coverings
Several lawmakers traveled back to Washington, D.C. from their homes to work on the legislation, which includes a ban choke holds, the creation of a national registry of cops who have been accused of misconduct and the abolition of qualified immunity, which protects police from civil litigation
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