A year after the murder of George Floyd, who sparked a national vigil about racial injustice in the United States, his relatives met with President Joe Biden at the White House and with lawmakers on the Capitol to urge them to pass police reform legislation in the name of their deceased.
Floyd, the 46-year-old black man who died last year in handcuffs after a white cop crouched on his neck on a Minneapolis street, became the face of a nationwide movement fighting police brutality and prejudice in the US criminal justice system.
His dying last words, "I can't breathe," also became a chant in the street demonstrations that rocked the United States and the world last summer amid the outbreak of the Coronavirus pandemic.
But the private visit to the Oval Office was the first time the White House had hosted the Floyd family.
His brother Terence said that the meeting with Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris away from the media was "very constructive", although the required bill is still stuck in the Senate.
Biden's Republican predecessor, Donald Trump, has been widely criticized for political rhetoric seen as stoking ethnic tensions that have escalated in the wake of Floyd's death.
Floyd's relatives used their visit to Washington on the anniversary of his death to pressure Biden and Congress to enact legislation to ensure that law enforcement authorities treat minorities fairly.
At the end of the visit, members of the Floyd family raised their fists, calling his name, which, since his death on May 25 during his arrest in Minneapolis, has turned into a symbol for victims of police violence in the United States.
Policeman Derek Chauvin, who pressed his knee on Floyd's neck for about 10 minutes, was convicted of murder, and his sentence will be announced on 25 June.
Compromise
In March, the Democratic-majority House of Representatives passed a bill called the "George Floyd Police Justice Act," to prohibit controversial methods used by the police such as "catch strangulation," and to facilitate prosecution of police officers for unlawful conduct.
A bipartisan group of members of Congress is working to hammer out a compromise to garner enough Republican support to secure its passage in the Senate, where the Democrats enjoy very little margin of control.
"If you can enact federal laws to protect the (national) bird, which is the bald eagle, you can enact federal laws to protect people of color," said Floyd's brother Floyd at the White House after he and five family members met Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris.
Moments before leaving the White House by helicopter to return to his hometown in Delaware, Biden told reporters that he had spoken to negotiators on the bill, and that he "hopes to reach an agreement after the Memorial Day holiday."
Biden said in a statement issued by the White House, "We must act ... the battle for the soul of America was a constant tug of war between the American ideals that we are all created equal and the harsh reality that racism has torn us apart for a long time."
The White House announced that Biden will visit next Tuesday Tulsa, Oklahoma, to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the massacre committed by white rioters against African Americans.
The Tulsa massacre left about 300 blacks dead (including women and children), and destroyed more than 1,200 buildings in the once thriving Greenwood neighborhood.
The exact number of the dead is still unknown, as several bodies were thrown into the river, some were burned, and a number of them were buried in unnamed graves.