American President Joe Biden asked for the approval of a George Floyd bill after “a step was taken against the systemic racism that is a stain on the soul of our country” with the condemnation of agent Derek Chauvin to Minneapolis. “We cannot stop there,” added the president in a televised address with his deputy Kamala Harris, “no one should be above the law and today’s sentence sends this message.”
Biden then added that “it is not enough. We cannot stop there. To bring about real change and real reform, we can and must do more to reduce the likelihood of tragedies like this happening again ”, inviting the protesters who will take to the streets after the verdict to be peaceful and non-violent. A Minneapolis jury found Officer Chauvin guilty of second- and third-degree manslaughter and second-degree manslaughter for Floyd’s death last May.
After the sentencing, Biden said now “we can’t look away from thinking our job is done. We have to watch it as we did for those nine minutes and 29 seconds ». And remembering Floyd’s last words he said: «we must listen. I can not breathe. I can not breathe”. Biden then recalled that “these were George Floyd’s last words, we must not let them die with him. We must continue to listen to these words. We must not turn our backs, we have the possibility to change the path of this country ».
The American president, who immediately after the verdict telephoned Floyd’s family saying that he was “heartened”, explained that his Department of Justice is “fully committed to restoring trust” between the security forces and the various communities by launching an appeal to the unity and to renounce violence.