Member-only story
Nancy Pelosi Thanked George Floyd For Sacrificing Himself?
The Speaker of the House had some questionable comments right after Derek Chauvin’s conviction.
As we’ve all heard, Officer Derek Chauvin of the Minneapolis Police Department was convicted of the murder of George Floyd, an unarmed black man whose death sparked some of the largest civil rights protests not only in the country, but the world this past summer. Among those sharing their thoughts following the conviction was Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, whose prepared remarks began generating backlash shortly after. In her speech she said:
“Thank you George Floyd for sacrificing your life for justice. For being there to call out for your Mom. How heartbreaking was that? ‘I can’t breathe’…but because of you and because of thousands, millions of people around the world who came out for justice, your name will always be synonymous with justice.”
I’m sure Pelosi never meant any harm by her words, but in reading what had been prepared for her shouldn’t she have paused at the word sacrifice, and questioned it?
George Floyd did not sacrifice himself. He was murdered. He did not willingly allow Derek Chauvin to put his knee on his neck for nine minutes for his name to become “synonymous with justice”, or give his…
