Family appeals to Biden to reform police

The family of George Floyd appealed Tuesday for sweeping police reform on the anniversary of the African American man's murder by a white officer, as they met President Joe Biden at the White House. 

The president and Kamala Harris, America's first female and first Black vice president, hosted several of Floyd's relatives in the Oval Office after the family spoke to top lawmakers hoping for progress on reform.

"The Floyd family has shown extraordinary courage," Biden said after their meeting -- declaring himself "hopeful" that a deal could be struck after the Memorial Day holiday this weekend.

The legislation being considered to increase police accountability would be named after Floyd, who suffocated after being pinned down under the knee of Minneapolis officer Derek Chauvin on May 25, 2020.

"If you can make federal laws to protect the bird, the bald eagle, you can make federal laws to protect people of color," Philonise Floyd, George's younger brother, said as he emerged from the private meeting.

The family later visited Black Lives Matter Plaza close to the White House, which became a focal point for demonstrations in the weeks after Floyd's death. Floyd's death sparked protests against racial injustice and police brutality across a country.

Chauvin, who knelt on Floyd's neck for more than nine minutes as he passed out and died, is to be sentenced in June for murder and manslaughter.

The police reform bill would ban potentially fatal restraint techniques used on suspects, like chokeholds, and end so-called "no-knock warrants" that authorize police to burst into a suspect's house unannounced. The most far-reaching of the measures would be to end legal protections that block civil lawsuits against police accused of misconduct.