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Cedric Richmond, senior adviser to President Biden, said there is no new timetable from the White House on police reform legislation, but said he is optimistic over the state of the negotiations.
Richmond said the administration is “doing everything we can” to get legislation passed including offering any advice or technical assistance asked of it.
Richmond said there is not a new timeline from the White House on passing police reform, after the original deadline of today came and went without a bill, and that the President wants something that is right, not rushed.
“It’s more important to have meaningful legislation than to meet a deadline or a timeline and I think that that came out today in the conversation with the family, that the President wanted something that is right, not necessarily rushed,” he said.
Richmond would not discuss the negotiations over qualified immunity during the interview, saying those negotiations have been going on behind the scenes and that’s where they should stay.
Vice President Kamala Harris spoke about her meeting with the family of George Floyd at the White House on Tuesday, saying “they have shown such dignity in the face of such an atrocious tragedy.”
“In their grief, they are so generous in the way that they have been supporting other families and supporting a system that should rightly yield in the face of injustice to what we know needs to be reformed,” she added.
The vice president said she is in awe of their continuing courage, their selflessness and the way they have approached this.
Harris also echoed her written statement after the meeting with Floyd’s family, saying “George Floyd should be alive today.”
She said the administration is watching and waiting to see what comes from the negotiations on police reform on Capitol Hill.
“The work that they have been doing has been I think intensive work throughout the weekends,” Harris said. “So they’re working around the clock from everything I can see and we’re waiting to hear but there seems to be a sense of optimism coming from the Hill and that gives me a sense of optimism and we’ll wait and see.”
Benjamin Crump, the attorney of George Floyd’s family, said GOP Sen. Tim Scott told him any policing overhaul bill will be named the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act.
Crump and the Floyd family spoke with reporters following their meeting with Democratic Sen. Cory Booker.
When asked earlier by reporters if they’re optimistic about a police reform deal getting done, Crump gave them a thumbs up.
Darnella Frazier, the teenager who was on her way to a Minneapolis store to buy snacks with her young cousin last May 25 when she recorded the clearest video of former police officer Derek Chauvin pressing his knee into George Floyd’s neck for over nine minutes, released a statement on Tuesday to mark the one-year anniversary of Floyd’s death.
“A year ago, today I witnessed a murder. The victim’s name was George Floyd. Although this wasn’t the first time, I’ve seen a Black man get killed at the hands of the police, this is the first time I witnessed it happen in front of me. Right in front of my eyes, a few feet away,” Frazier said in a statement to CNN.
Frazier’s video of Floyd’s final moments was widely credited for helping secure a guilty verdict against Chauvin, and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz publicly thanked her after the trial.
“Taking that video, I think many folks know, is maybe the only reason that Derek Chauvin will go to prison,” Walz said last month.
“A lot of people call me a hero even though I don’t see myself as one. I was just in the right place at the right time,” Frazier said Tuesday.
“Behind this smile, behind these awards, behind the publicity, I’m a girl trying to heal from something I am reminded of every day. Everyone talks about the girl who recorded George Floyd‘s death, but to actually be her is a different story,” Frazier added.
Frazier, now 18, said her life was forever changed by that moment, and she spoke about the challenges she and her family have faced in the year since she witnessed Floyd’s death, adding that she’s suffered from sleeplessness, anxiety and panic attacks in the aftermath.
“I used to shake so bad at night my mom had to rock me to sleep. Hopping from hotel to hotel because we didn’t have a home and looking over our back every day in the process,” the statement read.
As the sports world came together to pay their respects to George Floyd after his death in Minnesota a year ago, many organizations are also speaking out on the anniversary of his killing on Tuesday.
Floyd’s death sparked nationwide protests, with many prominent athletes and teams participating in advocacy and demonstrations.
The Women’s National Basketball Players Association released a statement on the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act – a bill that would do things like set up a national registry of police misconduct, ban chokeholds and no-knock warrants and make it easier to prosecute officers for wrongdoing, among other things.
The WNBPA said in a statement it remains hopeful and that the measure is an “important first step for comprehensive policing reform.”
“Excessive force used against communities of color is past crisis-level. Excessive force used against communities of color demands action by Congress,” the statement said.
The National Basketball Players Association tweeted, “How many more need to be killed before Congress takes action?” It urged people to call their senators and tell them to support the bill.
The NBA said a year ago Floyd’s death inspired a social justice movement and called on people to rally against systemic racism, it said in a tweet.
“Today and every day, members of the NBA family stand united in working for change and a future that provides true equality,” the NBA said.
Several high-profile NBA athletes were vocal about the killing of Floyd.
Professional teams in Minnesota – including the Vikings, the Timberwolves, the Lynx, the Wild and Minnesota United – all tweeted messages in Floyd’s memory. Several of them were photos of memorials or murals around the city.
The Players Alliance, the Major League Baseball players group, tweeted a statement pledging to create a more “inclusive, equitable future – both in our game and in our world.”
The NFL said it has been a year filled with “reflection and reckoning, one that has renewed our commitment to build and strengthen our communities.”
It also tweeted a video which featured players talking about how Floyd’s murder affected them.
You can watch that here:
After meeting with GOP Sens. Tim Scott and Lindsey Graham, Benjamin Crump, the attorney of George Floyd’s family, said “we’re optimistic” that Congress is “close, the closest they’ve ever been” to reaching a bipartisan agreement on a policing reform bill.
Scott told CNN on Tuesday after the meeting that he felt the Floyd family was very receptive to all the parts of the bill they discussed.
“I was pleasantly surprised and encouraged by their thoughts,” Scott said, adding, “I wish I was negotiating with them.”
One year ago today, George Floyd was killed by a police officer in Minneapolis. His death sparked global protests against police brutality.
Today, as his family continues to mourn his death, activists and communities around the country march and pay tribute to the man who became a symbol for racial justice.
CNN’s Omar Jimenez was live from Minneapolis and answered your questions.
Watch:
Today marks the one-year anniversary of the murder of George Floyd.
In today’s episode of CNN Political Briefing podcast, CNN Correspondent Omar Jimenez walks us through how the communities in Minnesota — and the country at large — are still grappling with the grief, the necessary changes to come, and what change community leaders are hoping for when it comes to reform.
You can listen here.
Vice President Kamala Harris urged Congress to “act with a sense of urgency” to pass police reform legislation in a statement released today.
Like President Biden, she said more needs to be done to address racial injustice. Earlier this afternoon, Harris and Biden met with the family of George Floyd on the anniversary of his death to discuss police reform.
Harris said that the video of Floyd’s death one year ago “revealed to the country what Black Americans have known to be true for generations.”
“The verdict finding Derek Chauvin guilty of murder provided some measure of justice. But one verdict does not address the persistent issue of police misconduct and use of excessive force. It does not take away the Floyd family’s pain, nor the pain of all those families who have grieved the untimely loss of a loved one,” Harris wrote.
President Biden released a statement after his Oval Office meeting with George Floyd’s family, saying the family has shown “extraordinary courage” over this past year.
Biden also reiterated his call for further action on police reform and said he hopes he can sign police reform legislation shortly.
“The negotiations on the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act in Congress are ongoing. I have strongly supported the legislation that passed the House, and I appreciate the good-faith efforts from Democrats and Republicans to pass a meaningful bill out of the Senate. It’s my hope they will get a bill to my desk quickly,” he wrote.
Biden said the conviction of former Minneapolis Police officer Derek Chauvin was an important step forward, but “our progress can’t stop there.”
The President said in order to deliver real change, there needs to be accountability when officers “violate their oath, saying, “we can and must have both accountability and trust and in our justice system.”
Two police reform bills that passed the Nevada Legislature unanimously were signed by Gov. Steve Sisolak on the anniversary of the murder of George Floyd, who was killed by a Minneapolis Police officer.
Senate Bill 50 requires law enforcement to provide an extensive explanation for why there is no alternative to a no-knock warrant before a judge can approve one. Assembly Bill 58 gives the state attorney general the ability the investigate whether a department is denying people’s civil rights.
“Son, this is for you,” said Attorney General Aaron Ford – who is Black – at a news conference on the new laws Tuesday. Wiping away tears, Ford added, “The level of perpetual anxiety we have to live with is just an unfair burden, and we have to stop it.”
Benjamin Crump, the attorney of George Floyd’s family, said that the family met with President Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris for “over an hour” today and discussed pressing forward with police reform legislation named in Floyd’s honor.
The House of Representatives in March approved the legislation, but the bill remains stalled in the Senate. A group of bipartisan lawmakers are still working to reach a compromise in the chamber as several sticking points remain, including the issue of qualified immunity for police.
Here’s what is included in the bill passed in the House earlier this year:
Biden had set a goal of today — the anniversary of Floyd’s death — to pass police reform legislation during his joint address to Congress in April, though the White House backed off that deadline last week.
White House press secretary Jen Psaki said Biden wants to give the negotiators on the Hill space to negotiate, and that he has been speaking with police reform advocates throughout these negotiations. She also would not put a new timeline on when the President expects to sign a police reform bill into law, but said Biden wants to sign the bill into law “as soon as possible.”
Crump said that in today’s White House meeting, the Floyd family also “encouraged” Biden to continue to meet with the civil rights leaders and advocacy groups that have “been working on this issue for decades.”
CNN’s Clare Foran and Jason Hoffman contributed reporting to this post.
Philonise Floyd, George Floyd’s brother, said he hopes more on police reform, specifically the proposed George Floyd Justice in Policing Act, is signed into law.
Floyd said he met with President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris today in “remembrance of what happened to my brother” on the one year anniversary of his killing in Minneapolis.
“They always speak from the heart,” Floyd said of the President and vice president. “And it’s a pleasure just to be able to have the chance to meet with them when he we have that opportunity.”
“We’re just thankful for what’s going on and we just want this George Floyd Policing Act to be passed in the future,” he added.
One year after George Floyd’s death, his cousin, Tera Brown, said that his family is working to build on his legacy.
“As much as, you know, it’s a loss for us, we do … we want to celebrate the life that he lived and focus on just making sure that … we build on the legacy that we want to honor him with,” said Brown, director of the George Floyd Foundation.
Brown said she’s always considered herself a caretaker of the family, and she wants police reform legislation to move forward to help others. She added that she knows this type of legislation takes time, but she believes it’ll happen.
Floyd’s 7-year-old daughter, Gianna, who said her “daddy changed the world,” is doing well and truly believes that statement, Brown said. The family tries to “protect her as much as we can,” Brown added.
Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison remembered George Floyd today, saying in a statement that his death sparked a call to action among people who didn’t even know him because “they knew in their bones that what they were seeing was wrong.”
He went on to say that after years of African American communities being gaslit by people in authority being told “state-sanctioned violence in their communities is their fault and that they are the criminals,” they and everyone in the world who watched Floyd’s death on video “believed their eyes.”
“We can break this cycle. The moment for making meaningful change is now,” Ellison said.
President Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris are meeting with the family of George Floyd exactly one year after he was killed by a Minneapolis police officer, sparking nationwide protests against racism and police brutality.
The meeting today comes as the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act — legislation that would set up a national registry of police misconduct, ban racial and religious profiling by law enforcement and overhaul qualified immunity for police officers — remains stalled in the Senate.
Biden had set an initial goal of having the legislation passed by today, but the White House backed off that deadline to allow negotiations to continue in Congress.
The family was on Capitol Hill this morning, where they met with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Rep. Karen Bass, the lead House negotiator of the police reform bill passed by the House under Floyd’s name.
Biden wanted his meeting with Floyd’s family today to be private, according to White House press secretary Jen Psaki, “in order to have a real conversation and preserve that with the family.”
Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz released a statement honoring George Floyd on the anniversary of his death.
The governor said the state must honor Floyd’s memory “by ensuring all people—particularly in our communities of color—are respected and protected by law enforcement.”
White House press secretary Jen Psaki responded to criticism that President Biden is not doing enough to help push a police reform bill through Congress, saying Tuesday that Biden wanted to give the negotiators on the Hill space to negotiate, and that he has been speaking with police reform advocates throughout these negotiations.
She also would not put a new timeline on when the President expects to sign a police reform bill into law, but said Biden wants to sign the bill into law “as soon as possible.”
Biden had set a goal of today — the anniversary of George Floyd’s death — to pass police reform legislation during his joint address to Congress in April, though the White House backed off that deadline last week.
“So we’ve been closely engaged, the President himself called Sen. [Cory] Booker to get an update last Friday, expect to continue to get updates over the coming days. And we have also made it imperative and made it a priority to leave space for the negotiators to have these discussions,” she added.
She also responded to criticisms from police reform advocates who say Biden has not done enough to get this legislation passed.
“Look, I think we may just have a disagreement in terms of what the right strategic approaches to these negotiations moving forward and getting to the final outcome which we all want to see, which is a bill that the President can sign into law,” she said.
Asked why the President wasn’t using his bully pulpit to make a stronger public call for police reform on the anniversary of Floyd’s death, Psaki said a written statement in the President’s name would be coming out today.
“He used the opportunity of his joint session address, which is the highest profile moment any President of the United States has in their first year of office to call for forward movements on police reform to call for the George Floyd Justice in Police Act to pass and he’s meeting with the family,” Psaki said.
The press secretary would not say whether the President would sign legislation that includes a compromise proposed by GOP Sen. Tim Scott on qualified immunity that allows individuals to sue police departments but not individual police officers, saying the President wants to wait to see what negotiations ultimately bring.
Shortly after Psaki was asked about Biden doing more to publicly call for police reform, a tweet from Biden’s account said, “We face an inflection point. We have to act.” Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris are meeting privately with the Floyd family today at the White House.
See Biden’s tweet:
There will be a 9-minute-and-29-second moment of silence across Minnesota today at 2 p.m. ET (or 1 p.m. local time), to honor the George Floyd, Gov. Tim Walz announced.
Former Minneapolis Police officer Derek Chauvin — who last month was convicted of murder in Floyd’s death — knelt on Floyd’s neck for 9 minutes and 29 seconds.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Tuesday that he will work “to take real action to fight systemic racism” and recognized the many Canadians and those around the world who have called for change in the wake of George Floyd’s death.
“It was a reminder that there are still too many people living with anti-black racism and injustice including here in Canada. Last summer, Canadians and especially young people marched to demand change; from economic empowerment through the black entrepreneurship program to proposing to remove ineffective mandatory minimums from the Criminal Code, to historic investments in community organizations our government is working with black communities across the country to make sure nobody is left behind. We will continue to take real action to fight systemic racism and create more opportunities for black Canadians and for everyone,” Trudeau said. These remarks were in English.
Trudeau, along with a few Cabinet members, attended an anti-racism rally in Ottawa shortly after Floyd’s death last year.
