George Floyd's brother endorses Harris-Walz, says Minnesota governor is 'built for this'

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz was just a year into his first term when in May of 2020 a Minneapolis police officer killed George Floyd by kneeling on his neck for nearly nine minutes, spurring protests across the state and the nation.

To Philonise Floyd, Walz’s compassion and dedication to ensure accountability for his older brother’s murder — and for other police brutality victims in Minnesota — is one of things that make him worthy of being the next vice president of the United States.

“He’s built for this,” Floyd, 43, said on Friday. “He’s built for this fight that he’s going to go through and I think he can do it.”

The endorsement comes just days after Vice President Kamala Harris tapped Walz as her running mate, a decision that has been met largely with enthusiasm by Democrats. Walz, now in his second term as governor after previously serving 12 years in Congress, has been introduced to voters at his early rallies with Harris as a football coach, public school teacher, and member of the Army National Guard.

Floyd said he has been impressed with Walz's leadership for years. After his brother’s killing, Floyd believes Walz's decision to appoint state Attorney General Keith Ellison to lead the prosecution was a justice-defining moment that ultimately led to convictions against all four officers involved.

“At first, he was just a regular governor, just looking like a politician. Then, he stood up and he put Keith Ellison in place as the prosecutor, and that showed a lot of people he was not playing. He was serious,” Floyd said. “If it wasn’t for Gov. Walz, we would not be able to walk around and say that we got some accountability.”

Then, he said, Walz’s decision to attend theApril 2022 funeral of Daunte Wright, a