WASHINGTON — The brother of the man whose death sparked nationwide protests gave emotional testimony on Capitol Hill Wednesday, one day after his brother’s funeral.
George Floyd’s brother, Philonise Floyd, had a message for his late brother.
"Big brother. You changed the world. Thank you for everything,” Philonise Floyd said.
Philonise Floyd reminded lawmakers of the now infamous video of a Minneapolis police officer with his knee on his brother’s neck.
"When you watch your big brother who you looked up to your whole entire life die, die begging for his mom. I'm tired. I'm tired of pain,” he said. "It is on you to make sure his death is not in vain."
That pain of losing a sibling was echoed by another witness as well.
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Angela Underwood Jacobs testified about her brother Dave Patrick Underwood who worked as a federal officer for the Department of Homeland Security.
He was shot and killed while working in California two weeks ago. Jacobs posted on her Facebook page saying,"My brother, Dave Patrick Underwood, a federal officer, was murdered 5/29/20 in Oakland California, while on duty during the riots. This Violence Must Stop."
"As he took his last breath on the cold, hard cement, after being shot multiple times, he died,” Jacobs said during her testimony Wednesday. “Fear, hatred, ignorance and blind violence snatched the life of my brother Patrick.”
From Democrats during the hearing, there was a push for the new “Justice in Policing Act,” introduced this week, that calls for major police reform.
"If this had been a law last year, George Floyd would be alive because chokeholds would be banned,” Rep. Karren Bass, D-California, said.
Republicans meanwhile blasted calls to strip law enforcement of its resources.
"It is pure insanity to defund the police,” Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, said.
Witnesses also included civil rights advocates and members of law enforcement.
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