In photos: Congress holds moment of silence for coronavirus victims
24 February 2021
Congress held a candlelight vigil on the steps on the U.S. Capitol Tuesday evening in honor of the Americans who have died from the coronavirus.
Why it matters: The U.S. death toll from the virus passed 500,000 on Monday, just one year after the country's first COVID-19 death was confirmed.
In photos:
Candles outside the Capitol on Feb. 23. Photo: Al Drago/Getty Images
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) outside the Capitol holding a candle on Feb. 23. Photo: Al Drago/Getty Images
House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) outside the Capitol on Feb. 23. Photo: Al Drago/Getty Images
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) holding a candle outside of the Capitol on Feb. 23. Photo: Sarah Silbiger/Bloomberg via Getty Images
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) holding a candle outside of the Capitol on Feb. 23.
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.