Congressman Ivey’s Statement on the 5th Anniversary of the Killing of George Floyd

Congressman Glenn Ivey provided the following statement on the fifth anniversary of the killing of George Floyd: 

The killing of George Floyd in 2020, and the global outcry that followed, echoed the protests, and hopes of the civil rights era generation and today’s young people. The world watched as a Black man’s desperate pleas for breath went unanswered, and millions demanded change in his name. Yet, five years later, the optimism that surged through those marches has been met with resistance. Memorials are fading, reforms are stalling, and the nation’s commitment to racial justice remains as fragile. 

Central to the legal response was the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act, a comprehensive bill designed to address police misconduct, racial profiling, and excessive force. The bill would have lowered barriers to prosecuting rogue officers, limited qualified immunity, created a national registry of police misconduct, and banned practices like chokeholds and no-knock warrants. These measures, had they passed, would have brought us closer to the legal protections my generation dreamed of during the civil rights movement. Despite passing the House, the bill stalled in the Senate, caught in partisan gridlock. As a prosecutor, I saw firsthand how the law can be both a shield and a sword. Without federal standards and accountability, local reforms are too easily rolled back, and the promise of equal protection remains unfulfilled. 

On this anniversary, I am reminded that the fight for justice is ongoing. The lessons of the civil rights era and the pain of George Floyd’s death demand that we not only remember but act. We must recommit to passing meaningful reforms. That is why I, along with my congressional colleagues, are reintroducing the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act and ensure that the law protects all Americans, regardless of race. Only then can we honor George Floyd’s legacy and move closer to the justice my generation sought for a more just America.

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