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New York City Mayoral candidate Ray McGuire has avoided calls to defund the NYPD, but said as mayor he would provide police body camera footage within 48 hours of request. | David Dee Delgado/Getty Images

Mayoral candidate Ray McGuire will take a break from the campaign trail Tuesday to attend the ongoing trial of Derek Chauvin, the former Minneapolis police officer accused of killing George Floyd.

McGuire will join Rev. Al Sharpton, former governor and current lobbyist David Paterson and Gwen Carr the mother of Eric Garner, who was killed in a police chokehold in 2014 to support Floyds family and underscore his own commitment to police reform.

I am going to Minneapolis on behalf of all New Yorkers to express our support for George and his family, and to experience the American judicial system and how the system deals with incontrovertible evidence of murder, McGuire, a political neophyte and former Citigroup executive, said in a statement. This was nine minutes and 29 seconds of cold-blooded murder.

The one-day trip comes on the heels of McGuire joining more than 70 Black business leaders across the city in signing an open letter to pressure executives at major corporations to denounce restrictive voting legislation in Georgia.

This is not partisan. Theres no middle ground here, McGuire told Sharpton on his MSNBC show Sunday. Unless we stand up today, we may be laying down tomorrow, without a vote.

One of three Black candidates in the eight-way Democratic race, McGuire met Floyds family during an anniversary March on Washington last year and vowed to attend the trial. He will join Carr, who has endorsed his candidacy for mayor, in a private room with the Floyd family.

McGuires team emphasized this is not a campaign event, but rather an opportunity for the candidate who is trailing in the polls despite spending $1.2 million so far on TV ads to show support for families affected by police brutality.

He has avoided calls to defund the NYPD, but said as mayor he would provide police body camera footage within 48 hours of request and break with current practice by exerting control over his police commissioner in cases of disagreement over disciplinary matters.

Sharpton has yet to offer his coveted endorsement to anyone in the field.

I'd like to see all the mayoral candidates do something to show that they're committed to police reform. I think they all have taken good rhetorical positions but I have not seen any of them yet distinguish themselves to the degree that they could, he said in an interview Monday.

He said most of the contenders including former police officer and top-tier candidate Eric Adams call him weekly.

The unsaid thing is, have I changed my mind about an endorsement? Sharpton said. One person phoned him early on Sunday, as he was leaving the gym. I dont think they called to see if I had an Easter bunny for Easter, lets put it that way.

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Ray McGuire to join Sharpton, Gwen Carr at Chauvin trial - Politico