A 700 pound bronze statue of George Floyd was unveiled in Newark, New Jersey city hall on Wednesday.
Floyd died last year after Minneapolis ex-cop Derek Chauvin pinned him to the ground with his knee on his neck for several minutes.
“George Floyd represents a lot more than himself at this point, at this juncture in history. Congress is contemplating a George Floyd in policing bill right now. All of the activity that took place around this country around the world because of the untimely and ferocious and vicious death — murder — of George Floyd and all of the activism that sparked out of it, you know, is worth us pausing and paying attention to,” the city’s mayor Ras J. Baraka said at the unveiling.
Baraka said Floyd’s death has the same impact as Emmett Till’s in in 1995, according to CBS News. “When [the statue] came to me, there was no contemplation, no trepidation. I said, ‘Why not, let’s have it here. Let’s have it in Newark,” he said, adding that he hopes the statue inspires people “to become active in the struggles that are happening right here in Newark and right here in New Jersey.”
The statue was commissioned by filmmaker Leon Pickney and made by artist Stanley Watts. It will be in the city for at least a year.
