Family of George Floyd to visit White House, Pelosi on anniversary of his murder

The family of George Floyd will meet with President Joe Biden and congressional lawmakers on Tuesday — exactly one year after he was murdered by a Minneapolis police officer, which sparked nationwide civil rights protests and made police reform a national priority.

Ben Crump, the family’s attorney, confirmed the visit to NBC News on Monday.

The family will meet with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., Tuesday morning in Washington before their scheduled White House meeting with Biden. Then the family will meet with several senators from both parties, but Crump declined to identify the lawmakers.

Philonise Floyd raises his fist as he leaves the Hennepin County Government Center with Keeta Floyd and Attorney Ben Crump on April 5, 2021 in Minneapolis.Stephen Maturen / Getty Images file

Sens. Cory Booker, Democrat of New Jersey, and Tim Scott, Republican of South Carolina, and Rep. Karen Bass, D-Calif., have been the lead negotiators on the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act. The bill aims to end certain police techniques, including chokeholds and carotid holds, two forms of potentially deadly force.

Such practices would be banned at the federal level, and funding for local and state police agencies would be conditioned on those agencies outlawing them. The bill also seeks to improve police training and invest in community programs designed to improve policing and promote equitable new policies, among other measures.

Former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin was found guilty in April of second- and third-degree murder, as well as second-degree manslaughter for causing Floyd’s death, a verdict that could send him to prison for the rest of his life when he is sentenced on June 25.

Biden called for Congress to pass the bill by the anniversary of Floyd’s death this past April in his first joint address to Congress. Biden said the legislation would help restore trust between communities and law enforcement and give meaning to the words of Floyd’s daughter, who Biden said told him, “Daddy changed the world.”

However, lawmakers are poised to miss the deadline as both parties haggle over certain provisions of the bill, which passed the Democratic-led House in March but has yet to receive a vote in the Senate, where at least 10 Republicans are needed for passage because of the chamber’s 60-vote filibuster rule.

“While we are still working through our differences on key issues, we continue to make progress toward a compromise and remain optimistic about the prospects of achieving that goal,” Booker, Scott and Bass said in a joint statement on Monday.

Scott also told reporters on Monday that a deal was near. He said negotiators had “good, good progress over the weekend” and that “we can see the end of the tunnel.” Scott declined to say if he will meet with the Floyd family.

“We still have a lot of work to do,” Booker said. “But the great thing about this bill is that everybody wants to get something really meaningful done and I was grateful for the amount of work that we got done.”

Crump said Monday that he views the White House visit as “an opportunity to pay proper respect” to Floyd with Biden, “who has been in continuous communication with the family.” Crump said he hopes the visit will “keep momentum going” toward the passage of the sweeping policing reform bill bearing Floyd’s name.

Haley Talbot contributed.

source: nbcnews.com