My father will change the world: George Floyd’s daughter at Capitol Hill

The daughter of George Floyd said Tuesday her father was going to “change the world” one year on from the African-American man’s murder by a white police officer, as the family pushed Washington to reach a deal on law enforcement reform.

Shortly ahead of a private White House meeting with President Joe Biden, Floyd’s relatives and their lawyer spoke to top lawmakers hoping for progress on delayed legislation named after Floyd, who suffocated under the knee of Minneapolis officer Derek Chauvin.

Floyd’s daughter Gianna, his mother, sister and brothers gathered in the US Capitol with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and other Democratic members of Congress.

ALSO READ | Minneapolis observes a moment of silence to mark George Floyd’s death anniversary

While the adults discussed their hopes for police reform, it was seven-year-old Gianna — hugging her mother Roxie Washington — who eloquently addressed the lasting legacy of her late father, saying he will “change the world.”

“Indeed that change is coming true,” Pelosi said.

Floyd’s May 25, 2020 death sparked protests against racial injustice and police brutality across a country already crackling with tension from the election battle between Biden and Donald Trump.

“The courage and grace of his family, and especially his daughter Gianna, has really stuck with the president,” White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said, adding that the president was “eager to listen to their perspectives.”

Chauvin, who knelt on Floyd’s neck for more than nine minutes as he passed out and died, is to be sentenced in June for murder and manslaughter.

In the wake of Chauvin’s conviction last month, Biden sought to build on political momentum by urging Congress to pass a far-reaching police reform bill in time for the anniversary.

However, the ambitious deadline comes with only the House having passed the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act, while the Senate continues to wrangle over key details.

Despite missing Biden’s hoped-for deadline, Representative Karen Bass, a co-author of the reform bill, reiterated her commitment to Democrats and Republicans negotiating a compromise.

“We will get this bill on President Biden’s desk,” she said at the meeting with the Floyd family. “We will work until we get the job done. It will be passed in a bipartisan manner.”

Pelosi too expressed optimism, saying the bill’s supporters and the Floyd family were “hoping to pass a bill named after George Floyd.”

The proposed law seeks to reform what critics say have become ever more violent and unaccountable police forces around the country.

Biden says a culture of impunity and underlying racism has made tragedies like Floyd’s death increasingly common, although opponents believe police operating in often heavily armed communities are being scapegoated.

As if to highlight the staggering number of US shootings, multiple gunshots rang out Tuesday near the site in Minneapolis where people were marking the anniversary of Floyd’s killing.

Shortly afterward a patient arrived at hospital suffering from a gunshot wound, a police spokesman said.

Among other measures, the bill would ban potentially fatal restraint techniques used on suspects, like chokeholds.

It would also end so-called “no-knock warrants,” when police are authorized to burst into a suspect’s house unannounced — a volatile situation that led to the accidental killing of a Black woman, Breonna Taylor, in Louisville, Kentucky, in March 2020.

The most far-reaching of the measures that senators are still debating would be to end current legal protections that block civil lawsuits against police accused of misconduct.

While nothing is easy to get through the heavily divided Congress, Biden hopes the energy unleashed in the wake of Floyd’s death will “help move this legislation across the finish line.”

ALSO READ | On George Floyd’s death anniversary, gunshots reported in Minneapolis

Confirming that there is hope for the bill, Bass, Democratic Senator Cory Booker and Republican Senator Tim Scott issued a joint statement on Monday citing “progress.”

“This anniversary serves as a painful reminder of why we must make meaningful change. While we are still working through our differences on key issues, we continue to make progress toward a compromise and remain optimistic,” they said.

After meeting Biden, the Floyd family was to hold talks with Booker and Scott and pay a visit to “Black Lives Matter Plaza” near the White House.