‘George should be alive today’: Brothers of George Floyd lead moment of silence during DNC
LOS ANGELES - George Floyd’s brothers virtually attended the 2020 Democratic National Convention where they pleaded for an end to racial injustice and police brutality.
“My brother George was selfless. He always made sacrifices for his family, friends and even complete strangers,” said one of Floyd’s brothers, Philonise Floyd, who gave brief remarks in support of the anti-racism protests that were sparked in the wake of George Floyd’s death. George Floyd died in May, when a White Minneapolis police office kneeled on his neck for nearly eight minutes.
Philonise, who spoke alongside his brother, Rodney, praised the sweeping protests that followed their brother’s death.
“People of all races, all ages, all genders, all backgrounds, peacefully protesting in the name of love and unity is a fitting legacy for our brother,” he said. “George should be alive today.”
Introducing the Floyd family was Washington, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser, who harshly criticized President Donald Trump as she spoke from an outlook just above Black Lives Matter Plaza, which was renamed after George Floyd died. There she proclaimed the need for new leadership in the White House, saying that it is time for the country to elect a president who “doesn’t fan the flames of racism.”
Bowser ordered her city government to paint the words “Black Lives Matter” on the street leading to the White House after protests erupted in Washington and around the U.S. in the wake of George Floyd’s death.
During her remarks, Bowser specifically criticized the use of chemical irritants by law enforcement who cleared protesters from Lafayette Square in June. After the crowd was cleared, Trump emerged from the White House for a photo op with a Bible in front of a nearby church.
Bowser said that while people were peacefully protesting, Trump was “plotting.”
Trump has adamantly criticized the protests — some of which turned violent — by running for re-election on a law-and-order agenda as a counterweight to the police and criminal justice reform movement.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.