Mr. Speaker, he cried for his mother. He begged to breathe with a police officer's knee pressing on his neck. Minutes later he was gone, and everybody knew his name: George Floyd.
There were marches around the globe. A sea of people took to the streets, chanting “Black lives matter” and demanding justice. For anyone who ever questioned systemic racism, George Floyd was an answer. Even with the video captured from the cellphone of a brave 17-year-old girl, who chose to stop and record what the world would see, I was not sure what would happen. Would there be a guilty verdict?
Yes, on all three counts. I wept not tears of joy, but of relief and resolve. This is not an ending, it is a beginning. There is no joy. There is no complete justice. There is only work and we have much more to do.