President Joe Biden will host the family of George Floyd on Tuesday to mark the first anniversary of his murder at the hands of Minneapolis police, according to family attorney Ben Crump.
The visit comes as negotiations on a bipartisan police reform bill in Floyd’s name have been delayed, although the bill’s chief architect, Rep. Karen Bass (D-Calif.) signaled hope this week for its eventual passage.
A White House spokesperson declined to tell CNN which members of the Floyd family would make the trip, and did not immediately respond to HuffPost’s request for comment.
One of Floyd’s brothers, Philonise Floyd, took part in the murder trial of former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin, who was found guilty on three counts and is currently awaiting sentencing. Floyd died after Chauvin knelt on his neck and upper back for nearly 10 minutes while a small group of concerned onlookers begged him to stop.
Philonise Floyd took the stand to tell the courtroom about his brother, saying he had loved their mother “so dearly” and was still mourning her death at the time of his deadly encounter with law enforcement.
Floyd’s death set off global protests against racist policing, which put pressure on lawmakers to address the problem.
Biden signaled support for police reform on the campaign trail, saying that “the anger and frustration, and the exhaustion is undeniable” in the Black community. During his April address to Congress, Biden set a deadline of May 25 ― the date of Floyd’s death ― to pass the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act, but the administration has since backed off the deadline.
A version of the bill, first introduced in June 2020, passed the House in March. Bass is now working with Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.) along with Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) on a version that could pass the narrowly Democratic-controlled Senate. Scott told CNN in mid-April that he was “optimistic” about the bill’s chances.
“We won’t make May 25, but I don’t believe it’s going to take months,” Bass told The Hill this week.
“What’s most important is that we get it right and that it be substantive, even if it’s a couple of weeks later,” she said.
If passed, the legislation would represent a sweeping overhaul in the ways police are held accountable: It would prohibit racial profiling; lower the legal standard of proof for a law enforcement officer to be found guilty of misconduct in federal court; place limits on qualified immunity, a doctrine that protects police officers from prosecution for their behavior in the line of duty; and give the Justice Department more power to investigate police departments.
Negotiators have said that qualified immunity is one of the main sticking points between Democrats and Republicans.