President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris issued statements over Memorial Day weekend on the death of George Floyd, stating that he “should be alive.”
The statements from Biden and Harris came on the fourth anniversary of the death of Floyd, whose death on May 25, 2020, while in police custody, led to nationwide protests and riots.
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“George Floyd should be alive. He deserved so much more,” Biden wrote in a post on X. “Today, I join all those who loved him and all those touched by the civil rights movement he inspired in remembering the tragedy and injustice of his death. He changed the world. Now, let’s act in his memory.”
Harris, likewise, issued a statement in a post on X in which she said Floyd “deserved to be safe” and “should be alive today.”
“To honor his memory, President Biden and I reaffirm our commitment to building a justice system that lives up to its name,” Harris wrote. “While we have made progress, we still have more work to do — including passing the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act.”
Floyd died after former Minneapolis, Minnesota, Police Officer Derek Chauvin pressed his knee on Floyd’s neck as Floyd was handcuffed and lying facedown on the ground.
In April 2021, during Chauvin’s trial, Chief Hennepin County Medical Examiner Dr. Andrew Baker testified that heart disease and drugs had been contributing factors in the death of Floyd.
Baker added that he had certified overdose death in people who had lower amounts of fentanyl than Floyd had in his system.
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Chauvin was found guilty of all three charges he faced in the death of Floyd: second-degree unintentional murder, third-degree murder, and second-degree manslaughter.
Baker was also questioned in February 2022, during the trial of three former Minneapolis police officers charged with violating Floyd’s rights.
While being questioned, Baker stated that the death of Floyd came after police “subdual, restraint and neck compression,” which led Floyd’s heart and lungs to stop working.
Baker said that drugs and heart disease were factors in Floyd’s death but not the top factors. Floyd also reportedly had an enlarged heart, which needed more oxygen, along with narrow arteries, Baker said.