Philonise Floyd Invokes Emmett Till in Emotional Response to Chauvin Verdict: ‘He Was the First George Floyd’

Philonise Floyd spoke with passion and emotion on Tuesday after former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin was found guilty of murder in the death of Philonise’s brother, George Floyd.

“I feel relieved today that I finally have the opportunity for hopefully getting some sleep,” Philonise said. “A lot of days that I prayed and I hoped and I was speaking everything into existence, I said, I have faith that he will be convicted.”

“It’s been a long journey, and it’s been less than a year. And the person that comes to my mind is [from] 1955, and to me, he was the first George Floyd. That was Emmitt Till,” he added, his voice breaking.

Philonise said that meeting Till’s cousin Deborah Watts for a CNN interview brought Till “back to life. People forgot about him.”

“But he was the first George Floyd,” Philonise added. “But today you have the cameras all around the world to see and show what happened to my brother. Those emotions hit you, the world seeing his light being extinguished. And I could do nothing but watch, especially in that courtroom over and over and over again as my brother was murdered.”

Watch above, via MSNBC.