Biden signs bill awarding Congressional Gold Medals to officers who responded to Jan. 6 attack
05 August 2021
President Biden signed legislation awarding Congressional Gold Medals to the law enforcement officers who defended the Capitol during the Jan. 6 insurrection.
Why it matters: The Congressional Gold Medal is Congress' "highest expression of national appreciation," notes the New York Times.
The big picture: "To all of them, on behalf of a grateful nation: thank you, thank you, thank you for protecting our Capitol — and maybe even more importantly, for protecting our Constitution," Biden said ahead of the signing.
- "The tragedy of that day deserves the truth above all else. We cannot allow history to be rewritten. We cannot allow the heroism of these officers to be forgotten," Biden said.
The state of play: Last month, law enforcement officers gave emotional testimony of their experiences defending the Capitol before the Jan. 6 select committee investigating the riot.
- Four officers who responded to the events of Jan. 6 have died by suicide.
Transcripts show George Floyd told police "I can't breathe" over 20 times
Section2Newly released transcripts of bodycam footage from the Minneapolis Police Department show that George Floyd told officers he could not breathe more than 20 times in the moments leading up to his death.
Why it matters: Floyd's killing sparked a national wave of Black Lives Matter protests and an ongoing reckoning over systemic racism in the United States. The transcripts "offer one the most thorough and dramatic accounts" before Floyd's death, The New York Times writes.
The state of play: The transcripts were released as former officer Thomas Lane seeks to have the charges that he aided in Floyd's death thrown out in court, per the Times. He is one of four officers who have been charged.
- The filings also include a 60-page transcript of an interview with Lane. He said he "felt maybe that something was going on" when asked if he believed that Floyd was having a medical emergency at the time.
What the transcripts say:
- Floyd told the officers he was claustrophobic as they tried to get him into the squad car.
- The transcripts also show Floyd saying, "Momma, I love you. Tell my kids I love them. I'm dead."
- Former officer Derek Chauvin, who had his knee on Floyd's neck for over eight minutes, told Floyd, "Then stop talking, stop yelling, it takes a heck of a lot of oxygen to talk."
Read the transcripts via DocumentCloud.