HEARING: Floyd’s brother urges lawmakers to ‘stop the pain’
WASHINGTON — Philonise Floyd sat for hours before a congressional committee on Wednesday — just a day after burying his brother George Floyd — so he could deliver a message: “It is on you to make sure his death is not in vain.”
He called his brother a “gentle giant” and said he was reminded of that while watching the video of George Floyd’s death as a Minneapolis police officer pinned him to the ground with a knee to the neck, which he described as a “modern day lynching in broad daylight.”
“He called all the officers ‘sir.’ He was mild-mannered. He didn’t fight back,” Philonise
Floyd testified to the House Judiciary Committee, which is considering police reforms proposed by Democrats. “The man who took his life, who suffocated him for eight minutes and 46 seconds — he still called him sir as he begged for his life.
“I’m tired. I’m tired of pain. Pain you feel when you watch something like that,” he said. “I’m here to ask you to make it stop. Stop the pain. Stop us from being tired. George called for help, and he was ignored. Please listen to the call I’m making to you now, to the calls of our family and the calls ringing out in the streets across the world.”
As Philonise Floyd patiently answered a barrage of questions during the daylong hearing, one lawmaker after another offered their sympathies and vowed that Congress will act. But so far there is no clear plan on how to proceed, as Democrats and Republicans in the House and Senate push competing proposals and President Donald Trump — who heads to Dallas on Thursday to talk about disparities in the justice system — considers issuing an executive order of his own.
The House panel, which includes Democratic Reps. Sheila Jackson Lee and Sylvia Garcia of Houston, is considering legislation that would ban choke holds and no-knock search warrants in drug cases, bolster the Justice Department’s authority to crack down on misconduct and chip away at some of officers’ legal protections when they are sued in civil court, among other things.
But Republicans on the committee, including U.S. Rep. Louie Gohmert, R-Tyler, complained about some of those provisions, including efforts to reform qualified immunity, which protects police from lawsuits, and lamented that the GOP wasn’t involved in crafting the legislation.
“It’s nice when we get together and talk about potential solutions,” Gohmert said. “Hopefully the majority will allow more input than the zero input we’ve had on the bill so far.”
Houston Police Chief Art Acevedo, who testified to the committee remotely from Houston, said he supports the intent of the House legislation, but that all reforms must be “vetted to ensure that they are sustainable, effective and have no unintended consequences.”
“There is no denying that changes in policing must be made,” Acevedo said. “Out of crisis comes opportunity and this is an opportunity for all of us to have some tough conversations, to listen, to learn and to enact meaningful reform that is long overdue.”
Among the reforms Acevedo said he would support is a proposal in the legislation to create a National Police Misconduct Registry to help police departments avoid making bad hires. He also again called for police forces to focus on hiring more minorities, something he has repeatedly said needs to happen to build better relationships with those communities.
House Democratic leaders say they want to pass the legislation by the end of the month as Democrats in the Senate back a version of the same bill, introduced by U.S. Sens. Cory Booker and Kamala Harris, both Democrats.
But Republicans who control the Senate are crafting their own police reform legislation. U.S. Sen. John Cornyn of Texas is part of that effort, which is being led by U.S. Sen. Tim Scott, a South Carolina Republican.
Trump, meanwhile, is expected to discuss “justice disparities in American communities” during a meeting in Dallas on Thursday with police and faith leaders. The Trump administration is considering issuing an executive order aimed at reducing police violence, which could come in the next few days, White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany said.
“The president has spent the last 10 days quietly and diligently working on proposals to address the issues the protesters raised across the country,” she said. “That body of work, I’m told, is reaching its final edits, and we hope to produce it for you in the coming days.”
The reforms to qualified immunity in the Democratic proposal, however, she said is a “nonstarter.”
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said on CNN that before Philonise Floyd testified, he spoke with her and asked: “Is this going to happen? Is there going to be a bill that is passed, and why do you think so?”
Pelosi said she responded: “I know so because the people have spoken.’
U.S. Rep. Kevin McCarthy, the House’s top Republican, offered similar sentiments during the hearing: “I’ll make one promise to you: Your brother will not have died in vain.”