3 years after George Floyd's murder, Biden urges Congress for police reform
'I urge Congress to enact meaningful police reform and send it to my desk,' says Biden
WASHINGTON
US President Joe Biden marked the three-year anniversary of George Floyd's murder by urging Congress to "enact meaningful police reform."
"I urge Congress to enact meaningful police reform and send it to my desk. I will sign it. I will continue to do everything in my power to fight for police accountability in Congress, and I remain willing to work with Republicans and Democrats alike on genuine solutions," Biden said in a statement.
Noting that equal justice is a "covenant we each have with one another," Biden said: "Today, three years after George Floyd’s murder, let us build on the progress we have made thus far and recommit to the work we must continue to do every day to change hearts and minds as well as laws and policies."
"As a Nation, may we ensure that George Floyd’s legacy and the legacy of so many others we also honor every day are not solely about their deaths, but what we do to honor their memory," he added.
Floyd, 46, died on May 25, 2020, after Officer Derek Chauvin, 46, who is white, kneeled on Floyd’s neck as he repeatedly said he could not breathe.
The 9-minute killing was captured on video and sparked protests across the country about police brutality and racial injustice.
Biden recalled in the statement that Floyd's young daughter Gianna told him the day before her father’s funeral that “Daddy changed the world.”
"Three years after her father’s murder, my answer to Gianna remains the same: he has," Biden added.
"George Floyd’s murder exposed for many what Black and Brown communities have long known and experienced -- that we must make a whole of society commitment to ensure that our Nation lives up to its founding promise of fair and impartial justice for all under the law," he wrote.
"The injustice on display for the world to see sparked one of the largest civil rights movements in generations -- with calls from all corners to acknowledge and address the challenges in our criminal justice system and in our institutions more broadly."