Nancy Pelosi thanks George Floyd for ‘sacrificing your life for justice’

As many U.S. politicians expressed their relief Tuesday at the guilty verdict in the murder trial of former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin, U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi thanked the man who Chauvin killed, George Floyd.

“Thank you, George Floyd, for sacrificing your life for justice. For being there to call out to your mom, how heartbreaking was that, calling out for your mom, ‘I can’t breathe’,” Pelosi said during a press conference held by the Congressional Black Caucus outside the U.S. Capitol building in Washington, D.C.

“But because of you and thousands, millions of people around the world who came out for justice, your name will always be synonymous with justice.”

The press conference was livestreamed on Pelosi’s Twitter account shortly after a Minnesota jury found Chauvin guilty on counts of second- and third-degree murder as well as second-degree manslaughter. The case sparked protests against racism and police violence across the globe.

Pelosi’s comments quickly produced a backlash on social media, which continued after she later tweeted a clarification of her statement:

“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.”

This is not the first time the House Speaker has taken awkward steps in the wake of Floyd’s murder.

Pelosi and then-Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer — both of whom are White — donned traditional Ghanaian kente cloth as they unveiled their Justice in Policing Act shortly after Chauvin killed Floyd. The legislation passed through the House and stalled in the Senate, but images of the unveiling have been turned into a meme symbolizing the empty rhetoric of politicians on serious issues like racist violence.

Pelosi said Tuesday she hoped the verdict would spur more movement on police reform, something she has pushed in the House.

“Unless we can change the law, this will be an episode. We change the law, we’re going down a different path altogether,” she said.

California’s U.S. Senators also released statements in the wake of the verdict.

“The entire nation saw the tragic murder of George Floyd on television,” California senior Sen. Dianne Feinstein wrote on Twitter. “This verdict is an opportunity to show all Americans that police must be held accountable for their actions.”

“I stand with the country in mourning the murder of George Floyd by Officer Derek Chauvin. Today’s guilty verdict represents the promise that power cannot protect an offender and that every victim deserves justice. All too often, communities of color have been denied this promise,” junior Sen. Alex Padilla wrote on Twitter.