Philonise Floyd, George Floyd’s younger brother, met with President Joe Biden at the White House on Tuesday and called for “federal laws to protect people of color.”

Philonise Floyd and other members of the family met privately with the president on the first anniversary of George Floyd’s May 25, 2020 murder by a Minneapolis police officer.

“If you can make federal laws to protect the bird, the bald eagle, you can make federal laws to protect people of color,” Philonise Floyd said.

Meanwhile, President Joe Biden praised the bravery of George Floyd’s family, a year to the day since the African American man was killed by a police officer during an arrest, sparking nationwide protests.

“The Floyd family has shown extraordinary courage, especially his young daughter Gianna, who I met again today,” Biden said in a statement after talking with several members of the Floyd family in the White House.

“His murder launched a summer of protest we hadn’t seen since the Civil Rights era in the ’60s — protests that peacefully unified people of every race and generation to collectively say enough of the senseless killings,” Biden said.

AFP