George Floyd's younger brother claims he wasn't hurting anyone and "didn't deserve to die over $20."
"Enough is enough," he told members of the House Judiciary Committee on Wednesday. "The people marching in the streets are telling you enough is enough."
Philonise Floyd was referencing the reason his brother was recently stopped by police in Minneapolis. George Floyd was suspected of using a counterfeit bill in a store. A call to police resulted in the older Floyd's suffocation while in custody, and that incident sparked nationwide protests and calls for policing reforms.
The younger Floyd vowed to do everything possible to ensure that his brother did not die in vain. He urged lawmakers to "stop the pain." He fought back tears and expressed regret that he didn't have a chance to say goodbye to his brother George. He called his brother a gentle giant and noted that laying him to rest was the hardest thing he's ever done.
House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy called Floyd's death wrong. He also condemned the murder of federal security guard David Patrick Underwood during a recent protest in Oakland. Underwood's drive-by shooting death is unsolved. McCarthy said it appears to have been a "targeted" killing.
Opening the Judiciary Committee hearing, the chairman, New York Democrat Jerry Nadler, said the "ugly truth" is that there are "countless others" who have suffered the same fate as George Floyd. He noted that many victims of police brutality are people of color.
Ohio Republican Jim Jordan expressed sorrow about Floyd's death, calling it "as wrong as wrong can be." He condemned police violence, but he also noted that most officers are decent and hard working.