The brother of George Floyd launched, Wednesday, June 10, a vibrant appeal to the Congress of the United States, imploring the elected officials of "Put an end to suffering" African-Americans and adopt significant police force reforms.
The day after the burial of George Floyd, who was killed on May 25 in Minneapolis by a white police officer, his brother Philonise Floyd was interviewed by the judicial committee of the House of Representatives, the majority of whom was Democrat.
Very moved, he explained "Not being able to describe pain" felt from watching the video of his brother’s ordeal, suffocated by Constable Derek Chauvin who was kneeling on his neck for almost nine minutes. "I am here to ask you to put an end to suffering, to put an end to our exhaustion", he launched to the elected officials.
"Please listen to my call, listen to my family's calls, calls coming from the streets all over the world", he added, referring to the protests that followed the tragedy, the most important since the civil rights movement in the 1960s.
A democratic law proposal
"Honor them and adopt the reforms necessary to ensure that the police are the solution and not the problem", begged the forties. "Make them accountable when they do wrong, teach them to treat people with empathy and respect, and teach them that lethal force should only be applied when a life is at stake", he listed.
His hearing, alongside representatives of the police and civil society, was organized to support a bill presented earlier this week by democratically elected officials, which aims to "Change the culture" in the United States police.
"We cannot turn a blind eye to the racism and injustice that permeates our police force too much", said Jerry Nadler, head of the commission, opening the meeting. "The nation demands that we act to achieve meaningful change. "
18,000 different police services across the country
Law enforcement has been in the hot seat since the death of George Floyd. Crowds of protesters took to the streets of the country – and even on other continents – to demand justice and deep reforms within the approximately 18,000 police services that coexist in the United States (municipal police, county sheriffs, State patrol…).
Faced with street anger, some agencies have announced first measures: the Houston police will abandon the controversial practice of "Choke plugs" when suspects are arrested, that of Minneapolis will be dismantled to be overhauled, that of Washington will no longer make room for unions in disciplinary proceedings …
At the Federal Congress, the Justice and Policing Act, supported by more than 200 elected Democrats, intends, among other things, to create a national register for police officers committing blunders, facilitate legal proceedings against agents and rethink their recruitment and training. .
But the future of this text is very compromised in the Senate, with a Republican majority.
Faced with this unprecedented mobilization since the civil rights movement in the 1960s, the majority leader in the upper house, Mitch McConnell, announced Tuesday that he was charging the only black Republican senator, Tim Scott, to reflect for the President's party on this subject.
After reporting a death "Sad and tragic"Donald Trump, who is campaigning for his re-election, emphasized a security speech, emphasizing the violence committed outside the protests.
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