21-05-2025
Uncle of George Floyd speaks at State House rally five years after nephew's murder
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'How many George Floyds were there before my nephew?' Jones said during the anniversary event. 'Someone decided they would be judge, jury, and executioner.'
Floyd was fatally asphyxiated on May 25, 2020, when Minneapolis police Officer Derek Chauvin knelt on his neck and back for nine minutes while Floyd, who had been suspected of passing a counterfeit $20 bill, repeatedly cried, 'I can't breathe.' Those words became a rallying slogan for the
According to
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Despite federal retrenchment, Jones said Floyd's death has made a difference in bringing attention to police brutality.
'I've got hope,' he said. 'Every day you wake up, hope is invented.'
In honor of his nephew, Jones co-founded Justice 929, a nonprofit group that works on a broad range of civil rights issues, including wrongful convictions, police brutality, and gun violence.
'We can slow some of these things down,' Jones said, referring to police violence, particularly against Black and brown people. 'But it's hard to teach old dogs new tricks. The new generation has to step up.'
Other speakers included the mother and two sisters of
His mother,
'My life hasn't been the same,' Sheffield said. 'A big part of my life was stolen, and for what? They weren't looking for the truth.'
Nikia Ramsey, Ramsey-White's sister, created the group Better Opportunities as a way to honor her brother and help young people from urban neighborhoods by focusing on social responsibility and life improvement.
'We are not here for pity. We are here for policy,' Ramsey said outside the state Capitol. 'We will never stop fighting in their name.'
Jennifer Root Bannon, whose brother Juston Root
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Root was believed to be armed, but actually had pulled a replica gun on a hospital security guard near Brigham and Women's Hospital. His family said Root had suffered from mental illness.
'They will never get truth and transparency as long as law enforcement is investigating themselves,' Root Bannon said. 'That needs to change.'
Several people who had been wrongfully convicted told chilling stories of spending decades behind bars. One of them, 74-year-old Hank Houghton of West Brookfield, said he was freed in 2021 after being imprisoned for 44 years for a rape he did not commit.
DNA evidence finally exonerated him, Houghton said, but he lost all his family members while incarcerated, including his 12-year-old daughter, who was killed by a drunk driver. The experience was harrowing, scarring, and mistaken, he said.
Instead of the Department of Correction, Houghton said, 'it should be called the Massachusetts penal colony because 'correction' has nothing to do with it.'
Nathan Metcalf can be reached at
