The daughter of George Floyd said on Tuesday her father was going to "change the world" one year on from the black man's murder by a white police officer, as the family pushed Washington to reach a deal on law enforcement reform.
President Joe Biden praised the bravery of George Floyd's family after a private White House meeting.
"The Floyd family has shown extraordinary courage, especially his young daughter Gianna, who I met again today," Mr Biden said in a statement after talking with several members of the Floyd family in the White House.
"His murder launched a summer of protest we hadn't seen since the Civil Rights era in the '60s - protests that peacefully unified people of every race and generation to collectively say enough of the senseless killings," Mr Biden said.
Ahead of the meeting with Mr Biden, Mr Floyd's relatives and their lawyer spoke to top lawmakers hoping for progress on delayed legislation named after Mr Floyd, who suffocated under the knee of Minneapolis officer Derek Chauvin.
Mr Floyd's daughter Gianna, his mother, sister and brothers gathered in the US Capitol with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and other Democratic members of Congress.
While the adults discussed their hopes for police reform, it was seven-year-old Gianna, hugging her mother Roxie Washington, who eloquently addressed the lasting legacy of her late father, saying he will "change the world".
"Indeed that change is coming true," Ms Pelosi said.
Gianna Floyd, George Floyd's daughter, holds the hand of her mother, Roxie Washington before a meeting to commemorate her father’s death. Source: EPA/ERIN SCOTT / POOL
Mr Floyd's death on 25 May 2020 sparked protests against racial injustice and police brutality across a country already crackling with tension from the election battle between Mr Biden and Donald Trump.
"The courage and grace of his family, and especially his daughter Gianna, has really stuck with the president," White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said, adding that the president was "eager to listen to their perspectives".
Culture of impunity
Mr Chauvin, who knelt on Mr Floyd's neck for more than nine minutes as he passed out and died, is to be sentenced in June for murder and manslaughter.
In the wake of Mr Chauvin's conviction last month, Mr Biden sought to build on political momentum by urging Congress to pass a far-reaching police reform bill in time for the anniversary.
However, the ambitious deadline comes with only the House having passed the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act, while the Senate continues to wrangle over key details.
Despite missing Mr Biden's hoped-for deadline, Representative Karen Bass, a co-author of the reform bill, reiterated her commitment to Democrats and Republicans negotiating a compromise.
"We will get this bill on President Biden's desk," she said at the meeting with the Floyd family. "We will work until we get the job done. It will be passed in a bipartisan manner."
Ms Pelosi too expressed optimism, saying the bill's supporters and the Floyd family were "hoping to pass a bill named after George Floyd".
The proposed law seeks to reform what critics say has become ever more violent and unaccountable police forces around the country.
Mr Biden says a culture of impunity and underlying racism has made tragedies like Mr Floyd's death increasingly common, although opponents believe police operating in often heavily armed communities are being scapegoated.
As if to highlight the staggering number of US shootings, multiple gunshots rang out Tuesday near the site in Minneapolis where people were marking the anniversary of Mr Floyd's killing.
'Meaningful change'
Shortly afterwards, a patient arrived at hospital suffering from a gunshot wound, a police spokesman said.
Among other measures, the bill would ban potentially fatal restraint techniques used on suspects, like chokeholds.
It would also end so-called "no-knock warrants," when police are authorised to burst into a suspect's house unannounced, a volatile situation that led to the accidental killing of a Black woman, Breonna Taylor, in Louisville, Kentucky, in March 2020.
The most far-reaching of the measures that senators are still debating would be to end current legal protections that block civil lawsuits against police accused of misconduct.
While nothing is easy to get through the heavily divided Congress, Mr Biden hopes the energy unleashed in the wake of Mr Floyd's death will "help move this legislation across the finish line".
Confirming that there is hope for the bill, Bass, Democratic Senator Cory Booker and Republican Senator Tim Scott issued a joint statement on Monday citing "progress".
"This anniversary serves as a painful reminder of why we must make meaningful change. While we are still working through our differences on key issues, we continue to make progress toward a compromise and remain optimistic," they said.
After meeting Mr Biden, the Floyd family was to hold talks with Mr Booker and Mr Scott and pay a visit to "Black Lives Matter Plaza" near the White House.
