1 Year Since George Floyd’s Death Sparked Protests And Police Reforms Around The World

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) — Tuesday marks one year since George Floyd died at the hands of a Minneapolis police officer.

His death reignited the fight for police reform across the country with countless protests.

“He was a motivator, he definitely a motivator,” Floyd’s brother, Terrence Floyd, told CBS2’s Kiran Dhillon over the weekend. “He’d tell you something, and you’d just be like, ‘I believe it, I believe I can fly!'”

The death of the 46-year-old man while in police custody created a movement and propelled the country forward, sparking a reckoning on race. But his brother says the fight is far from over.

“This is just the beginning,” he said. “A lot of negatives turned into positives in this year… We have a long way to go.”

In April, former Minneapolis Police Officer Derek Chauvin was convicted of murder and manslaughter. Three other officers are also facing trial in Floyd’s death.

Protests and anger broke out across the U.S. after his killing, and even overseas. People marched for Floyd in the U.K., Germany, New Zealand and Japan.

“I think that seeing was believing for a lot of people, and I think they woke up,” said civil rights activist DeRay McKesson.

McKesson co-founded Campaign Zero, a group fighting for police reform. He says Floyd’s death opened many people’s eyes.

“I think that for Black people, it was like déjà vu, it was like we’ve been here before, we’ve seen it. For a lot of other people, it was shock,” he said.

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While some have pushed back, saying police are being unfairly demonized, 36 states have passed some form of police reform since Floyd’s death, and many communities are cutting police funding.

“We need more community policing and we need more engagement with officers,” one activist said.

The George Floyd Justice in Policing Act, which includes a ban on chokeholds and no-knock warrants, has stalled in the U.S. Senate.

Floyd’s family created an organization in his honor called, “We are Floyd.”

“We want to focus on financial literacy. We want to focus on getting the proper resources within the inner city,” Courtney Nelson, of We are Floyd, said.

Rev. Al Sharpton invited Mayor Bill de Blasio and the mayoral candidates to a rally Tuesday at the National Action Network in East Harlem to discuss how they will move the city forward in terms of civil rights and closing the racial gap.

Floyd’s family is also set to meet with President Joe Biden to discuss how they plan to continue pushing for social change.

CBS2 will mark the anniversary of his death by taking a look back a year of protests, the progress made and the work left to be done. Watch our special report at 5:30 p.m. on CBS2 and CBSN New York.

from CBS New York https://newyork.cbslocal.com/2021/05/25/george-floyd-1-year-later/
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