George Floyd’s brother,Philonise, is speaking out after Tuesday’s guilty verdicts that found former police officerDerek Chauvinguilty of Floyd’s murder.
Listen below to the episode ofour daily podcast PEOPLE Every Dayfor more on Derek Chauvin’s conviction.
Appearing onGood Morning AmericaWednesday, Philonise said his family is “happier knowing that his life, it mattered, and he didn’t die in vain.” He added, “He helped change the world. He made people realize that people’s lives matter all across the world, not just here in Minneapolis but in different countries.”
Philonise then described the moment he found out the guilty verdicts on Tuesday and what it was like watching Chauvin being taken away in handcuffs. (He will remain in jail until his sentencing in eight weeks.)
“The moment the prosecutors said something about him getting in handcuffs right then and there, I looked and I watched him put his hands behind his back,” Philonise recalled. “I was like, he had it a lot easier than my brother, because my brother’s hands were pinned backwards. But it was accountability.”
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Philonise alsoappeared on theTodayshow, saying the guilty verdict was a “pivotal moment for me, my family, the world.”
“I feel better. I feel relieved,” he added. “I actually went to sleep for like five hours last night, and that was great, you know? I wanted to celebrate — I know that something that I shouldn’t have to do, like, celebrate, but it was historic.”
“I had so many individuals walk up to me and they was telling me, ‘Man, you worked hard, and you and your family have set the tone for the standards that the world needs to be accountable and understand that we are one; we’re united,'” he said.
At a news conference Wednesday, Philonise said, “Today we are able to breathe again,” referencing George’s repeated cries of “I can’t breathe” as Chauvin pressed his knee into George’s neck in the footage that went viral and sparked outrage and protests last year. Philonise invoked the name of Emmett Till, a 14-year-old Black boy who was brutally beaten and lynched in Mississippi in 1955.
“He was the first George Floyd, but today you have the cameras all around the world to see and show what happened to my brother,” he said. “The world seen his life being extinguished, and I could do nothing but watch … especially in that courtroom over and over and over again as my brother was murdered.”
George Floyd, left, and Derek Chauvin.Splash
“Ten miles away from here, Mr. Wright, Daunte Wright, he should still be here,” he said. “We always have to understand we have to march, we have to do this for life, we have to protest. It seems like this is a never-ending cycle.”
“I’m not just fighting for George anymore,” Philonise said. “I’m fighting for everybody around this world. … Justice for George means freedom for all.”
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source: people.com
