- House Speaker Nancy Pelosi thanked George Floyd for "sacrificing" his life for justice.
- A jury on Tuesday convicted former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin of Floyd's murder.
- Pelosi received swift backlash on social media for implying that Floyd willingly sacrificed himself.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi was condemned on Tuesday saying that George Floyd, a Minneapolis man murdered by a police officer in 2020, "sacrificed his life" for racial justice, a statement some critics called "ignorant" and "tone deaf."
Just minutes earlier, a Hennepin County jury found Derek Chauvin, a former Minneapolis police officer, guilty of unintentional second-degree murder, third-degree murder, and second-degree manslaughter for killing Floyd by pinning his knee on his neck for nearly nine minutes.
Floyd's death and other killings of Black Americans at the hands of police in 2020 set off nationwide protests and demands for justice and reforms to police and criminal justice systems around the country.
"Thank you George Floyd, for sacrificing your life for justice. For being there to call out to your mom, how heartbreaking was that, call out for you mom, 'I can't breathe,'" Pelosi said at a press conference hosted by the Congressional Black Caucus following the verdict. "But because of you and because of thousands, millions of people around the world who came out for justice, your name will always be synonymous with justice."
Shortly after making the controversial remark at the press conference, Pelosi's official account tweeted: "George Floyd should be alive today. His family's calls for justice for his murder were heard around the world. He did not die in vain. We must make sure other families don't suffer the same racism, violence & pain, and we must enact the George Floyd #JusticeInPolicing Act."
Still, there was a significant backlash to her original comments, with people pointing out that Floyd did not die willingly for the causes of police reform and racial justice, but was killed by Chauvin.
Katharine Krueger, a features editor at ELLE, quickly reacted with a post on the Discourse Blog titled: "Nancy Pelosi How F------ Dare You."
"Well intentioned - but not fully thought through responses - like saying a loved ones death served a larger purpose is often extremely painful to people grieving," Andrew Kacynzski, a reporter at CNN's KFile who documented his infant daughter Francesca's illness and death from pediatric brain cancer in 2020, tweeted.
Even the College Democrats of Alabama called on Pelosi to "apologize immediately or resign" over the comment.
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