Congressional Democrats, wearing African kente cloths, knelt in silence in tribute to George Floyd before unveiling sweeping legislation to combat police violence and racial injustice
American flags fluttered along the route to the Fountain of Praise church in Houston, where Floyd grew up, as throngs of mourners wearing face coverings to prevent spread of the coronavirus formed a solemn procession to pay final respects.
The public viewing came two weeks to the day after Floyd’s death was captured by an onlooker’s video. As a white police officer knelt on his neck for nearly nine minutes, Floyd, 46, an unarmed black man suspected of trying to pass a counterfeit $20 bill, died in handcuffs, lying face down on a Minneapolis street, gasping for air and groaning, “I can’t breathe.”
Demonstrations, unleashed amid anxiety and joblessness from the coronavirus pandemic, invigorated the Black Lives Matter movement, thrusting calls for racial justice and police reforms to the top of America’s political agenda ahead of the Nov. 3 presidential election. “He listened, heard their pain and shared in their woe,” Crump said of Biden’s private meeting. “That compassion meant the world to this grieving family.” Floyd was due to be buried on Tuesday.
The legislation does not call for police departments to be de-funded or abolished, as some activists have demanded. But lawmakers called for spending priorities to change.
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