George Floyd Family Attorney Blasts Lack of Progress Since Death: ‘Black People Still Can’t Breathe’
Ahead of the two anniversary of the death of George Floyd, family attorney Benjamin Crump says very little progress has been made, declaring to The Washington Post on Monday that “Black people still can’t breathe.”
Floyd died on May 25, 2020 after being detained by Minneapolis Police over a complaint he’d used counterfeit money. Video of Floyd being pinned by the neck by former officer Derek Chauvin for over 9 minutes while he exclaimed that he couldn’t breathe caused mass outrage and kicked off a number of protests against police brutality. Chauvin was convicted last year and sentenced to 22 years behind bars for Floyd’s death.
Civil rights attorney Crump said the outrage caused by Floyd’s death, however, has still not led to much real progress.
“We’re set [for] a record high for police killings in this year,” he told the Post. “This is the second year after George Floyd when we really believed that it was going to be a wake up call or a tipping point where we didn’t see so many of these unjust, highly questionable killings by police.”
Crump added later, “I continue to say, you know, very honestly, regrettably, that it’s been two years and Black people still can’t breathe because we haven’t got that George Floyd police reform bill passed by the United States Congress.”
The George Floyd police reform bill is aimed at improving police training and limiting qualified immunity for officers, which protects many from civil lawsuits.
In an op-ed for the Post on Monday, Crump also expressed his disappointment in how things have gone since Floyd’s death.
Last year was one of the deadliest on record for police violence, with the police killing an average of three Americans a day. That truth takes a heavier-than-average toll on Black Americans. Police violence is a leading cause of death among young Black men, and unarmed Black people are three times more likely to be shot by the police than are unarmed White people.
The attorney also called on President Joe Biden to do more on the issue and to live up to his promise to “have our backs.”
“When Biden became president-elect, he said he’d have our backs. It’s time for him to show us,” Crump wrote, recommending a national database for instances of police misconduct and tying federal funding to states to “meaningful policy change.”
Widespread reform is the only solution, according to Crump.
“Only with widespread police reform will Black Americans ever get to breathe,” Crump wrote.
