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Biden signs Pulse nightclub national memorial bill into law

25 June 2021
 Dan Ackermann

President Biden signed legislation on Friday designating the Pulse nightclub a national memorial.

Why it matters: The 2016 mass shooting at the Orlando, Florida gay club is one of the deadliest attacks in modern American history, that left 49 people dead and more than 50 people injured.

  • Earlier this month, on the fifth anniversary of the shooting, Biden called Pulse "hallowed ground," and noted that the shooting was particularly devastating for members of the LGBTQ community.
  • Survivors of the shooting and victims' families attended the signing ceremony at the White House.
  • The bill to designate the nightclub as a national memorial passed the Senate on June 9, three days before the fifth anniversary of the shooting.

What they're saying: "A place of acceptance and joy became a place of unspeakable pain and loss, and we'll never fully recovery, but we will remember," Biden said.

  • "May no president have to sign another monument like this," he added.

The big picture: Biden signed the legislation in the final days of Pride month.

Zoom out: The Pulse nightclub law is part of an effort to build a permanent memorial at the site to include a reflecting pool, an open-air museum and an education center with gardens and a public plaza.

  • The project is estimated to cost $45 million but no federal funds can be used to establish the memorial.

Transcripts show George Floyd told police "I can't breathe" over 20 times

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Newly 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.