George Floyd anniversary: Joe Biden meets family as US embassies fly Black Lives Matter flag

The family of George Floyd, whose murder sparked protests around the world, met president Joe Biden at the White House for almost an hour to mark the anniversary of his death.

“If you can make federal laws to protect the bird which is the bald eagle, then you can make federal laws to protect people of colour,” George Floyd’s brother, Philonise, told reporters after the meeting.

It comes as the US president missed the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act deadline, which he originally set for 25 May. To mark the anniversary, embassies around the country were authorized by the State Department to fly the Black Lives Matter flag “advance racial equity and access to justice on May 25 and beyond”.

Mr Floyd was killed by Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin, who knelt on Mr Floyd’s neck for more than nine minutes. A jury of 12 found Chauvin guilty on three counts; one count of second-degree murder, one count of third-degree murder, and one count of manslaughter.

The former police officer has not yet been sentenced but faces up to 40 years in prison. The state attorney general, Keith Ellison, has requested the judge consider ‘aggravating factors’ when handing out a sentence, which requests “an upward sentencing departure”.

Following the murder of Mr Floyd, protests broke out in the state, across the nation, and internationally, as thousands of people took to the streets to decry police brutality.

Mr Floyd’s family is marking a year since his death with a series of events, including the Saturday rally held alongside other victims of police killings, a day of action, and a candlelit vigil on Tuesday, 25 May – a year to the day he was killed.