On the one year anniversary of George Floyd’s murder, members of his family will meet with President Joe Biden at the White House. The meeting and one-year mark since his death come as Congress struggles to pass the police reform legislation named after George Floyd.
Floyd’s murder sparked months-long international protests against police brutality and racial oppression. Derek Chauvin, one of four former Minneapolis police officers charged in Floyd’s murder, was convicted on all charges last month. Sentencing for Chauvin is scheduled for June, and the trial of the other three officers was postponed to start in March 2022. All of the men face federal civil rights violation charges.
In March, the House passed the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act, though the legislation has stalled in the Senate as lawmakers struggle to find compromise. The Act passed by the House bans chokeholds, no-knock warrants and puts an end to qualified immunity for police officers accused of on-the-job wrongdoing.
According to reports, the bill needs the support of at least 10 Republicans in the Senate due to the filibuster rule. At this rate, lawmakers suspect that Congress will not make Biden’s deadline to get the police reform bill passed by the one year anniversary of Floyd’s murder.
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