Biden meets with family of George Floyd on anniversary of death

President Joe Biden will mark the first anniversary of George Floyd’s death on Tuesday by meeting with members of the Floyd family at the White House.

This comes as Congress is poised to miss the president’s deadline for passing police reform legislation named in Floyd’s memory. Floyd died a year ago Tuesday after former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin kneeled on his neck for over nine minutes, which Biden called “a wake up call to the country” and sparked protests around the world calling for police reform and an end to systemic racism. His death led to legislation called the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act, which was originally introduced in June 2020 and passed by the House of Representatives in March. Biden had held out the anniversary of Floyd’s death as a deadline for the bill’s passage, but Tuesday’s meeting is unlikely to include a signing of the legislation.

Biden previously met with the family ahead of Floyd’s funeral in Houston last summer and spoke with them both before and after Chauvin was found guilty of murder and manslaughter in Floyd’s death. “You’ve been incredible, you’re an incredible family. I wish I were there to put my arms around you,” Biden told the family on the call following the guilty verdicts. “I’m anxious to see you guys. I really am. We’re going to get a lot more done, we’re going to do a lot. We’re going to stay at it til we get it done.”

Biden, during his first joint address to Congress last month, set Tuesday as a deadline for signing the policing legislation into law. “My fellow Americans, we have to come together to rebuild trust between law enforcement and the people they serve, to root out systemic racism in our criminal justice system, and to enact police reform in George Floyd’s name that passed the House already,” Biden said in April. “We need to work together to find a consensus. But let’s get it done next month, by the first anniversary of George Floyd’s death.”

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POLITICS EDITOR: CARSON CHOATE

PHOTO CREDITS: COLORADO SPRINGS-GAZETTE