‘Stop the pain,’ George Floyd’s brother asks of Congress
Lawmakers ponder sweeping overhaul
WASHINGTON — George Floyd’s brother challenged Congress on Wednesday to “stop the pain” as lawmakers consider a sweeping law enforcement overhaul, so the man he loved and looked up to won’t be just “another name” on a growing list of black Americans killed during interactions with police.
Philonise Floyd’s appearance before a House hearing came a day after funeral services for his older brother, the 46-year-old African American whose death has become a worldwide symbol in demonstrations calling for changes to police practices and an end to racial prejudices.
“I’m here today to ask you to make it stop. Stop the pain,” Philonise Floyd told the silenced hearing room.
Choking back tears, he said he wants to make sure that his brother, whom he called “Perry,” is “more than another face on a t-shirt, more than another name on a list that won’t stop growing.”
Floyd challenged lawmakers to be leaders: “Our country, this world needs the right thing.”
House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler gaveled in the session, many lawmakers and witnesses masked during the COVID-19 outbreak, as Democrats review the Justice in Policing Act, a far-ranging package of proposals amid a national debate on policing and racial inequity.
In Washington, lawmakers also heard testimony from civil rights and law enforcement leaders as Congress considers changes to police practices and accountability after Floyd’s death in police custody and the mass protests that followed.
For hours, witnesses described what one called a “lynching” over what happened to Floyd on May 25, and others placed his death alongside those of other African Americans that have created a tally becoming difficult for lawmakers in Congress to ignore.
Rep. Karen Bass, D-Calif., the chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus, which is leading the legislative effort, said the proposed changes reflect a nation coming to grips with a history of racial injustice.
“This is about the kind of America we all want to see,” said Bass.
The Democrats’ legislation would create a national database of police misconduct, ban police choke holds and loosen “qualified immunity” to make it easier for those injured to seek damages in lawsuits, among other changes. The proposals don’t go as far as some activists want to defund police departments for other community services. They do, however, make available grant money for states to reimagine ways of policing.
Republicans as well as Democrats have called for a national registry of use-of-force incidents, so police officers cannot transfer between departments without public awareness of their records.
Rep. James Sensenbrenner, R-Wis., said the “depravity” he said he saw in the video of Floyd’s death “burned in my soul.” He welcomed a new database and also called for police chiefs to get rid of “bad apples.”
There is also growing bipartisan support for increasing the use of police body cameras, ending no-knock warrants as police used to enter the home of Breonna Taylor who was killed in Louisville, Kentucky, and other changes to police practices and oversight.
White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany said Wednesday that Trump was still looking at different options. She said the administration was making “final edits” on a proposal for release “in the coming days.”
Philonise Floyd’s testimony captivated the room as he recounted what he saw in the widely viewed video as an officer pressed a knee into George Floyd’s neck while other police stood by. The one officer, Derek Chauvin, who is white, is now charged with murder, and three others also face charges.
“He called all of the officers ‘sir,” said Philonise Floyd. “He still called them ‘sir’ as he begged for his life.”
“His life mattered,” the brother said. He broke down at one point over the images. At another, he said he wonders every day if he will be “next.”
Within the wrenching testimony were many of the core issues being debated as part of the police overhaul. Those include questions about whether it’s appropriate to have police officers respond to minor offenses and the use of force to detain suspects.