Last Updated on April 20, 2021
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has thanked George Floyd for “sacrificing [his] life for justice,” with her comments being widely mocked on social media.
Speaker Pelosi spoke at a press conference following the conviction of former Minneapolis Police officer Derek Chauvin on all counts of the murder of George Floyd. “It’s not over,” Pelosi said, claiming that Democrats would fight to get the “George Floyd Justice and Policing Act” passed in Congress and signed by Joe Biden.
“His name is synonymous with justice and dignity and grace and prayerfulness,” Pelosi continued, saying that the whole situation was “traumatic,” and that the jury “validated” what everyone supposedly saw on television. “Thank you George Floyd for sacrificing your life for justice,” Pelosi said. “For being there to call out to your mom (how about heartbreaking was that?)… ‘I can’t breathe,’ but because of you, thousands, millions of people around the world who came out to justice, your name will always be synonymous with justice,” she concluded.
Nancy Pelosi thanks George Floyd for being murdered pic.twitter.com/na0Fjoj891
— philip lewis (@Phil_Lewis_) April 20, 2021
Her comments were widely mocked on social media by people from all across the political spectrum, noting that Pelosi literally thanked Floyd for dying.
gotta give Pelosi the benefit of the doubt, it’s 4/20 and she could be high af right now
— Siraj Hashmi (@SirajAHashmi) April 20, 2021
Nancy Pelosi deadass thanked George Floyd for dying
— Greg Price (@greg_price11) April 20, 2021
Nancy Pelosi just thanked George Floyd for “sacrificing” his “life for justice.”
These people are sick.
— Brigitte Gabriel (@ACTBrigitte) April 20, 2021
Pelosi thanking George Floyd for his "sacrifice" pic.twitter.com/hH0kLGTNd5
— You (@whitemorbius) April 20, 2021
Nancy Pelosi just said… whet…???
“thank you for sacrificing your life George Floyd…” oh no ma’am. Like… whet?!?? pic.twitter.com/iLhYksyGU1— kelechi (@its_kelechi) April 20, 2021
As National File reported, Chauvin’s trial concluded on Tuesday evening with a conviction on all counts, including second degree murder, third degree murder, and second degree manslaughter. As a result, the former officer could be facing a sentence of up to 75 years in prison:
The guilty verdict would come as no surprise to many, with multiple instances of seeming intimidation against the jury from activists and elected officials. “If George Floyd’s murderer is not sentenced, just know that all hell is gonna break loose,” warned Black Lives Matter activist Maya Echols. “Don’t be surprised when buildings are on fire. Just sayin’.” Echols later deleted the video after backlash.
“This is guilty for murder. I don’t know whether it’s third degree, but as far as I’m concerned it’s first degree murder,” said Representative Maxine Waters last weekend. She added that, should Chauvin not be convicted for first degree murder, then “we gotta stay on the streets, we gotta get more active, we got to get more confrontational, we got to make sure they know we mean business.” Judge Peter Cahill, who presided over the case, described Waters’s comments as “abhorrent,” suggesting that they could be used as evidence in any appeal case by Chauvin.
A local news organisation also published full biographies of the jurors involved, including their ages, ethnicities, their job occupation, among other details, potentially leaving the jurors open to physical violence if they had voted not to convict Chauvin of Floyd’s murder. National File is choosing not to link to the article out of respect for the anonymity of the jury.
