Democrat lawmakers kneel for 9 minutes to pay tribute to George Floyd [Video]

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW:

• US Democrat lawmakers led by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer knelt in silence for almost nine minutes on Monday to honor George Floyd’s death.
• Lawmakers wore African kente cloth scarves as they knelt at the Capitol Visitor Center before unveiling their legislative reforms on police brutality.
• The democratic legislative package includes a ban on the use of chokeholds and creation of a national database that will monitor cases of police misconduct.

United States House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer, and other Democratic lawmakers knelt for about nine minutes on Monday during a moment of silence at the Capitol Visitor Center before the unveiling of legislative package of police reforms.

As a sign of honor and tribute to George Floyd, around 24 lawmakers knelt for eight minutes and 46 seconds — the same amount of time in which Floyd got stooped on the neck by a Minneapolis police officer. Floyd, 46-year-old African American, was unarmed and fatally arrested in the later week of May. 

Before the moment of silence, Pelosi said, “We are here to honor George Floyd.”

Schumer also shared his sentiment: “To every one of us, it was excruciating. It seemed an unbearably long amount of time. It felt so painful to get even an inkling of how this man and so many black Americans have suffered for so long.” 

After almost nine minutes, all lawmakers stood back up. The house speaker then said, “You see how long it was to have that knee on his neck.”

The lawmakers were wearing African kente cloth scarves around their bodies. The press conference was held to unveil their proposed legislation in response to the two consecutive weeks of nationwide mass protests over police brutality on African Americans.

The legislative package of Democrat lawmakers includes numerous proposals from members of the Congressional Black Caucus. It includes a ban on the use of chokeholds and creation of a national database that will monitor cases of police misconduct.

Democrat Senators also held a moment of silence last week.

Source: The Hill