George Floyd

Oakland Remembers George Floyd, Looks Inward for Progress

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A year after the killing of George Floyd, activists with the Anti-Police Terror Project met in Oakland Tuesday to reflect on what still needs to get done about police reform.

The group of people gathered had the same demands as last year: end racial injustice.

Members of the Anti-Police Terror Project are calling on the Oakland City Council to take millions of dollars away from the Oakland Police Department's budget and reinvest back into the community.

"George Floyd had a daughter, Oscar grant had a daughter," said Oakland resident Leo Mercer.

He also has a daughter, and she has watched how the death of George Floyd affected her father and kicked off a summer of protests. The two have joined the Oakland chapter of the NAACP and a number of local officials for a commemorative event to honor Floyd’s legacy.

"His funeral reminded us, his daughter reminded us then that day that the world would never be the same," said Congresswoman Barbara Lee.

She called on the Senate to pass the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act that would ban chokeholds and end legal protections for officers accused of misconduct. 

Attorney General Rob Bonta seized the opportunity to call for a state-wide officer decertification process, which would prevent fired police officers from getting a job at another department.

"The way to honor his life and legacy is to create durable, sustainable, systemic structural change that is worthy of him," he said.

Facing a rise in homicides and shootings this year, Oakland Police Chief LeRonne Armstrong said his department is dedicated to building relationships with the community and applauded his officers for their work, despite the politically charged times.

"We’re going to do it the right way in Oakland and when we do it wrong, we’re going to acknowledge it and be transparent about it," he said.

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