Summary Events are being held to commemorate the one-year anniversary of the murder of George Floyd
George Floyd's family spoke to reporters briefly after a private hour-long meeting with President Joe Biden and Vice-president Kamala Harris.
In quick succession, several members of Floyd's family made comments, many of them thanking Biden and Harris for the meeting.
His brother Rodney Floyd said the family was grateful for the concern the president and vice-president showed.
"Being here today is an honour," said another brother, Terrence. "I feel it was a very productive conversation and I'm grateful for it."
The family also addressed the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act, which they called for Congress to pass. Biden has so far failed to push the bill through, missing his own deadline of today.
The president is waiting for the "right" bill to be passed, Floyd's nephew Brandon said, instead of rushing one through.
"We just want this George Floyd Policing Act to be passed in the future," said brother Philonise Floyd. "If you can make federal laws to protect the bird, the bald eagle, you can make federal laws to protect people of colour."
There was also a moment of levity during the meeting, the family said. Joe Biden interacted and played with Gianna Floyd, George's 7-year-old daughter.
"She had an absolute ball," a family lawyer said.
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Posted at 20:4220:42
According to a recent NPR poll, 51% of Americans approve of Democratic President Joe Biden’s handling of race relations.
But the numbers break down as expected along party lines. Among Democrats, about 85% say they approve. About half of independents and only 14% of Republicans approve.
About one-third of Americans say they think things will improve under Biden, while another third say race relations will stay the same.
That’s an uptick from Donald Trump’s presidency when a majority of Americans said they expected race relations to worsen.