{"id":48429,"date":"2022-05-25T13:24:23","date_gmt":"2022-05-25T13:24:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/?p=48429"},"modified":"2022-05-25T13:24:23","modified_gmt":"2022-05-25T13:24:23","slug":"george-floyd-two-years-on-some-accountability-but-killings-go-on","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/?p=48429","title":{"rendered":"George Floyd two years on: some accountability but killings go on"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Two years have passed since Minneapolis police handcuffed George Floyd\u2019s hands behind his back, pinned him face down on the street and choked the life out of him.<\/p>\n

Floyd, aged 46, was being arrested on suspicion of attempting to pass a counterfeit bill at a neighbourhood convenience store. On May 25, 2020, a white police officer knelt on his neck for nine and half minutes, cutting off oxygen<\/a> to his brain as he cried out \u201cI can\u2019t breathe.\u201d<\/p>\n

Caught on video by a bystander, the incident sparked worldwide protests by hundreds of thousands of people that rocked politics in the United States and helped lift Joe Biden to the US presidency.<\/p>\n

Standing alongside Floyd\u2019s family members, Biden plans to sign an executive order at the White House on Wednesday adopting new standards for law enforcement. But rights advocates say\u00a0little has changed in how police interact with Black communities in the US.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor the two-year anniversary, it\u2019s woefully underwhelming and not at all something that befits the memory of George Floyd,\u201d Melina Abdullah, a Black Lives Matter grassroots organiser, told Al Jazeera. \u201cWe were hoping for something much more courageous.\u201d<\/p>\n

Amid continuing calls for justice and change, here\u2019s a summary of what\u2019s happened in the two years since Floyd\u2019s death:<\/p>\n

The Officers<\/h2>\n

Derek Chauvin, the officer who choked Floyd to death, was convicted by a jury<\/a> in Minnesota state court of unintentional murder and manslaughter. He was sentenced in June 2021 by the trial judge to 22 and a half years in prison<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"Former<\/img>
Former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin is seeking to reverse his conviction [File: Court TV\/ pool via AP]<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In April, 46-year-old Chauvin appealed\u00a0his murder conviction<\/a>, arguing that the jury was intimidated by protests and prejudiced by pre-trial publicity.<\/p>\n

Chauvin pleaded guilty in December 2021 to federal charges of violating Floyd\u2019s civil rights, averting a potential penalty of life in prison if convicted at trial.\u00a0In February, a jury in federal court found the other three former Minneapolis police officers involved in Floyd\u2019s arrest and death guilty of violating\u00a0his civil rights.<\/p>\n

Tou Thao,\u00a0J Alexander Kueng<\/a>, and Thomas Lane were found guilty<\/a> of depriving Floyd of his right to medical care when Chauvin pressed his knee into Floyd\u2019s neck even after Floyd had stopped moving or breathing.<\/p>\n

\"This<\/img>
Former Minneapolis police officers J Alexander Kueng, Thomas Lane and Tou Thao [File: Hennepin County Sheriff\u2019s Office via AP]<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Lane has pleaded guilty<\/a> to a state charge of aiding and abetting second-degree manslaughter in Floyd\u2019s killing. He faces a sentence of up to three years in prison. Kueng and Thao are scheduled to go on trial in state court next month.<\/p>\n

All four had been fired by the Minneapolis Police Department the day after Floyd\u2019s killing.<\/p>\n

Court Settlements<\/h2>\n

In July of 2020, Floyd\u2019s family filed a wrongful death lawsuit<\/a> against the city of Minneapolis and the four officers, alleging his civil rights were violated and the police had used excessive force.<\/p>\n

Nine months later, the city council agreed to a $27 million settlement<\/a> with Floyd\u2019s family and set aside $500,000 to improve the business district where he was killed.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat the largest pre-trial settlement in a wrongful death case ever would be for the life of a Black man sends a powerful message that Black lives do matter and police brutality against people of color must end,\u201d Floyd family lawyer Ben Crump said in a statement at the time.<\/p>\n

\"Civil<\/img>
Ben Crump, centre, the civil rights lawyer, represented the family of George Floyd [File: J Scott Applewhite\/AP Photo]<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Over 10 years, US cities have paid $3bn to settle wrongful death and civil rights abuse claims, according to data analysis in 2021 by FiveThirtyEight.com and the Marshall Project.<\/p>\n

These settlements are believed by experts to be indicative of a wider, unanswered problem because many victims of police abuse cannot sue. The judicial principle of \u201cqualified immunity\u201d prevents many officers from being held accountable in court.<\/p>\n

Reform measures<\/h2>\n

Police reform legislation \u2013 titled the \u201cGeorge Floyd Justice in Policing Act<\/a>\u201d \u2013 passed the Democrat-controlled House of Representatives in March 2021 on a largely party-line vote.<\/p>\n

The legislation was aimed at overhauling police and community relations by establishing national operating standards for police departments, mandating data collection on police encounters and reprogramming funds for community programmes. It would have opened the door to more federal prosecutions of police use of excessive force.<\/p>\n

\"Senator<\/img>
Senator Tim Scott, a Republican, \u00a0right, and Senator Cory Booker, a Democrat, were unable to reach a bipartisan deal on police reform legislation [File: Manuel Balce Ceneta\/AP Photo]<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

But negotiations in the Senate between Democrats and Republicans fell short as Republicans refused to entertain key demands such as an end to \u201cqualified immunity\u201d.<\/p>\n

Congress\u2019s failure to produce reform legislation has left President Joe Biden with the option of issuing a presidential executive order<\/a> that is expected to adopt stricter standards for use of force by federal law enforcement and establish databases to track police misconduct.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe don\u2019t know whether we are at a true inflection point, a watershed moment, that remains to be seen,\u201d Arthur Ago, director at the Lawyer\u2019s Committee for Civil Rights, told Al Jazeera.<\/p>\n

But, \u201cthe continued engagement by the administration in DC issues shows that they haven\u2019t given up on changing the way policing is done in this country.\u201d<\/p>\n

Reform advocates, meanwhile, have made progress at the state and local level winning passage of more than 140 accountability and reform bills, according to a New York Times analysis of data collected<\/a> by the National Conference of State Legislatures in 2021.<\/p>\n

Bills restricting or prohibiting the use of neck restraints like the one that killed Floyd were adopted in 16 states. Ten states passed laws mandating police use body cameras, and five restricted no-knock warrants.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt the local level, there have been some really important changes,\u201d Ago said.<\/p>\n