George Floyd's brother implored the United States Congress on Wednesday to "put an end to the suffering" of African-Americans and to "hear calls" from the street to reform the police. "I am here to ask you to put an end to the suffering, to put an end to our exhaustion," launched before a parliamentary commission Philonise Floyd, whose brother was killed on May 25 in Minneapolis by a white police officer. Very moved, he explained "not being able to describe the pain" felt by watching the video of his brother's ordeal, asphyxiated by agent Derek Chauvin who remained kneeling on his neck for almost nine minutes.
"Make sure he didn't die for nothing"
"Maybe speaking to you today, I could make sure he didn't die for nothing, that he didn't just become a face on T-shirts, another name on a list that continues to grow, "continued Philonise Floyd before the Judiciary Committee of the House of Representatives, with a Democratic majority.
"Please listen to my call, listen to the calls of my family, the calls that are coming up from the streets all over the world," he added in reference to the demonstrations that followed the death of his brother, the most important since the civil rights movement in the 1960s.
Philonise Floyd argues that "law enforcement is the solution, not the problem"
"Honor them and adopt the reforms necessary to ensure that the police are the solution and not the problem," pleaded the forty-something, the day after his brother's funeral in Houston, Texas.
"Make them accountable when they do wrong, teach them to treat people with empathy and respect, and teach them what a necessary force is, that lethal force should only be applied when a life is at stake, "he said.