Pelosi, democrats kneel in U.S. Congress to honour Floyd
North America , 2020 June 9 Tuesday (CGTN)
Democratic lawmakers knelt in silent tribute to George Floyd in the U.S. Congress on Monday before unveiling a package of sweeping police reforms in response to the killing of African Americans by law enforcement.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer were joined by some two dozen lawmakers in Emancipation Hall — named in honor of the slaves who helped erect the U.S. Capitol in the 18th century.
They knelt for eight minutes and 46 seconds to mark the length of time a white police officer pinned his knee on the neck of 46-year-old unarmed and handcuffed Floyd, whose May 25 death in Minneapolis sparked protests against racial injustice across the United States and beyond.
The Democrats said their bill aimed to create “meaningful, structural change that safeguards every Americans’ right to safety and equal justice.”
The 134-page bill also would ban chokeholds and require the use of body cameras by federal law enforcement officers, restrict the use of lethal force and facilitate independent probes of police departments that show patterns of misconduct.
Two weeks after Floyd’s death, the impact continued to resonate at home and abroad. Protesters nationwide now are demanding police reforms and a reckoning with institutional racism in response to the death of the African-American and calls to “defund the police” have become rallying cries for many.
The Minneapolis City Council has vowed to dismantle the city’s 800-member police agency.
In Portland, Oregon, the city’s police chief resigned Monday, just six months into her job, amid criticism of her department’s handling of protests in Oregon’s largest city. An African American lieutenant on the force replaced her. The shake-up came as police have been sharply criticized for using what has been called inappropriate force against some protesters as huge demonstrations continue in Portland.
In Paris, France’s top security official said police would no longer permit chokeholds that have been blamed for multiple cases of asphyxiation and have come under renewed criticism after Floyd’s death.
As democrats are rolling out the policing reform plan in Washington, DC, at least 6,000 of mourners on Monday flooded to a church in Houston where Floyd grew up, to say goodbye to him.
Under a blazing Texas sun, mourners wearing T-shirts with Floyd’s picture or the words “I Can’t Breathe” waited for hours to pay their respects as Floyd’s body, dressed in a brown suit, lay in an open gold-colored casket. Some sang “Lean on Me” and Houston’s police chief bumped fists and embraced others in line.
In Los Angeles, a funeral-style procession of cars inched through downtown as the viewing began in Houston. In Tennessee, residents of Memphis held a moment of silence.
Former police officer Derek Chauvin, 44, who has been charged with second-degree murder and third-degree manslaughter in Floyd’s death, made his first court appearance by video link on Monday. At the hearing, bail for him was raised by 250,000 U.S. dollars to 1.25 million dollars.
Minnesota Assistant Attorney General Matthew Frank argued that the “severity of the charges” as well as the strength of public opinion against Chauvin made it more likely that he would flee if set free, the Star Tribune reported.
Chauvin’s bail was raised to 1.25 million dollars from one million dollars without conditions, and to one million dollars from 750,000 dollars with conditions, according to a conditional release order signed by Hennepin County District Judge Jeannice Reding.
The conditions include prohibitions against working in law enforcement and contact with Floyd’s family. Chauvin would also have to surrender any licenses or permits for firearms to qualify for the lower bail amount, the order said. Chauvin and his attorney did not object to the bail conditions.
