MINNEAPOLIS – This Sunday marks the fifth anniversary of George Floyd’s death at the hands of a Minneapolis police officer, remembered through religious services, concerts, and vigils. Meanwhile, police reform advocates and civil rights supporters perceive increasing resistance from the Trump administration.
The focal point of Minneapolis events is George Floyd Square, the site where Officer Derek Chauvin pressed his knee against Floyd’s neck for 9 1/2 minutes. This spot is forever etched in memory as the place where the 46-year-old Black man tragically cried out, “I can’t breathe.”
The commemorations kicked off on Friday, featuring concerts, a street festival, and a “self-care fair.” The observance will conclude on Sunday with a worship service, a gospel music concert, and a candlelight vigil.
In Houston, where Floyd grew up, family members planned to gather Sunday at his gravesite for a memorial service led by the Rev. Al Sharpton. In a park about 2 miles (3.2 kilometers) away, a memorial service will take place, followed by five hours of music, preaching and poetry readings and a balloon release.
The remembrances come at a fraught moment for activists, who had hoped the worldwide protests that followed Floyd’s murder on May 25, 2020, would lead to permanent police reform across the U.S. and a continued focus on racial justice issues.
Even with Minneapolis officials’ promises to remake the police department, some activists contend the progress has come at a glacial pace.
“We understand that change takes time,” Michelle Gross, president of Communities United Against Police Brutality, said in a statement last week. “However, the progress being claimed by the city is not being felt in the streets.”
President Donald Trump’s administration moved Wednesday to cancel settlements with Minneapolis and Louisville that called for an overhaul of their police departments following the Floyd’s murder and the killing of Breonna Taylor. Under Democratic President Joe Biden, the U.S. Justice Department had aggressively pushed for aggressive oversight of local police it had accused of widespread abuses.
Trump also declared an end to diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives within the federal government and his administration is using federal funds as leverage to force local governments, universities and public school districts to do the same. Republican-led states also have accelerated their efforts to stamp out DEI initiatives.
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