On the one-year anniversary of his death, George Floyd’s family is meeting with President Joe Biden at the White House which Floyd family lawyer Ben Crump hopes will push forward legislature in Floyd’s name.
Since Floyd’s death, former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin was found guilty of murdering the Black man. Three other officers who responded to the call regarding a counterfeit $20 bill will go to trial early next year after a judge approved a request to delay.
The Floyd family was paid a settlement of $27 million by the city of Minneapolis, the largest pre-trial settlement a city has paid for a death caused by a white law enforcement officer against a black man. Similarly, the family of Breonna Taylor, a Kentucky woman who was shot and killed in her apartment after police issued a no-knock warrant, was paid a settlement of $12 million by the city of Louisville.
“These cases assert that Black lives do, in fact, matter. They do have value. And they can’t be taken without great consequence,” Crump wrote in a column for Deadline.
While the deaths of Floyd, Taylor, and other Black individuals sparked worldwide protests against police brutality, Monday’s planned memorial to honor Floyd’s life was interrupted by gunfire shortly after 10 a.m. local time, Minneapolis police said.
The protest was held at George Floyd Square, which marks the location where Floyd died in Minneapolis. The area, located at the intersection of Chicago Avenue and 38th Street,was renamed in his honor last year.
At least one person has been injured and was taken to Abbot Northwestern Hospital before being transported to Hennepin County Medical Center with non-life-threatening injuries, Minneapolis Police said.
Currently, there is no information about the suspect of the shooting, who was last seen driving away from the scene of the crime. The name of the victim or a possible motive for the shooting has yet to be released.
Events in honor of Floyd are currently taking place at The Commons, a Minneapolis park approximately 3.5 miles away from the scene of the shooting. The intersection of Chicago Avenue and 38th Street where former officer Chauvin kneeled on Floyd’s neck until Floyd’s death is being referred to as George Floyd Square, a site for memorials and protests in honor of Floyd and other victims of police brutality.
This is a live story and will be updated with more information.
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