TRUE CRIME'He Should Still Be Here': George Floyd's Sister Says She Will Continue Fight For Change A Year After His Senseless Murder
It has officially been one year since the horrific murder of George Floyd at the hands of convicted former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin, but his sister, Bridgett Floyd will continue to fight for justice in his name.
"I have been through so much in this last year," the courageous woman told PEOPLE. "I have no choice but to be strong and carry this weight, and carry this position that God has put me in. Because I didn't see it coming. None of us did."
Luckily, his loving sister will not allow his death to be in vain. Bridgett has become an activist taking police brutality and systemic racism head on.
"The one-year anniversary of the murder is a day to celebrate George's life — but the next day marks the beginning of another journey to letting the world know about George Floyd," she stated. "Another journey for us to put our heads together and be at the forefront for all needed changes."
Floyd was murdered by Chauvin when the police officer pressed his knee to George's neck for nine minutes while George laid on the street during his arrest for allegedly spending a counterfeit $20 bill. The fatal encounter was entirely caught on film by on lookers who cried out for the Chauvin to get off Floyd's neck but it was too late.
This crime set off a movement of marches, protests and a call to action for the entire country and world to evoke change.
The legacy that he leaves behind includes a pending law bearing George's name that would ban police chokeholds and create a national registry of police misconduct, a new grant program to help businesses, community organizations and nonprofits in the predominantly Black neighborhood where he died, and George Floyd Square in Minneapolis.
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His sister believes, "it will be a special place forever but it's just really, really sad that people have to visit a street and see murals and flowers and cards and art and things like that, to really get to see how much a person was loved. Because he should still be here; he should still be here. They should be able to see him, walk with him, talk with him."
"Everything that he wanted to do, he did — he got a chance to do. We will try our best to repeat those things in the community," she added.
Bridgett Floyd with George Floyd's daugher
Bridgett also says that there is still so much work left to do in her brother's honor
"A year has came around just that fast. I really thought that my brother's death would be the last police brutality case," she said. "But as we all can see, they are added again and again and again. But with the passing of this George Floyd bill that I know the president will sign — we don't know when, but I have a good feeling about this bill being passed — that would protect these families from hurting. Because these police officers need to be held accountable for their actions. That really needs to happen. So they can know that when they break the law, when they take a loved one from someone, they have to think twice about it."
She knows that getting this bill passed will mean life or death to some and it is of the utmost importance to continuing George's legacy.
"I think about how I have young Black kids, and how I do not want them to end up being one of these victims," she explained. "I don't want the police to one day bully them, and they don't know how to handle the situation. So, I talked to them and they see that I get out here and I put my boots on and I go and do what I have to do. So the world can hear me. So the world can hear what Derek did to my brother. What he took from us." she says.
"Looking at my kids every day, being Black kids," she said, "I have no choice but to continue this fight."
