Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi thanked George Floyd for “sacrificing” his life in a Tuesday press conference held shortly after former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin was convicted of murder in Floyd’s death.
“Thank you George Floyd for sacrificing your life for justice, for being there to call out to your mom,” Pelosi said at a Congressional Black Caucus press conference outside the Capitol. “How heartbreaking was that? Call out for your mom, I can’t breathe, but because of you and because of thousands, millions of people around the world who came out for justice, your name will always be synonymous with justice.”
.@SpeakerPelosi speaking at presser with CBC: Thank you George Floyd for sacrificing your life for justice…Because of you and because of thousands, millions of people around the world who came out for justice, your name will always be synonymous for justice.
— Alex Moe (@AlexNBCNews) April 20, 2021
Chauvin was convicted Tuesday of second-degree murder, third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter in Floyd’s death. Chauvin knelt on Floyd’s neck for almost nine minutes on May 25, 2020, and Floyd died shortly after being taken to a hospital. Video taken by an onlooker showed the entire incident.
Pelosi also said that Floyd’s name is now “synonymous with justice and dignity and grace and fairness and prayerfulness.”
Earlier in the day, the House voted to table a motion to censure Democratic California Rep. Maxine Waters. Waters said on April 17 at a Minneapolis protest that protestors would need “to get more confrontational” if Chauvin was not found guilty. (RELATED: ‘Broke The Law, Incited Violence’—McCarthy To Introduce Resolution Censuring Maxine Waters For ‘Dangerous Comments’)
“Maxine talked about confrontation in the manner of the Civil Rights movement,” Pelosi said of Waters’ remarks at a Monday press conference.