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Mayor Adams hosts faith leaders (photo: Benny Polatseck/Mayoral Photography Office)

Mayor Eric Adams recently made headlines for suggesting in a speech that the City of New York would benefit from there being no separation between church and state. On CNNs State of the Union some days later, Adams clarified his remarks, stating that Government should not interfere with religion, and religion should not interfere with government. Though this walk-back did not quell the controversy, it did highlight the precariousness of navigating religion in public life.

Some background on Adams beliefs and the broader issue of religion and politics gives context to the mayors comments. Most people in my corner of the political world know me for my work as a political consultant and more recently as a political analyst. Many do not know that I am also an ordained minister and that for 16 years I pastored several congregations. My graduate training was in the field of theology; I studied at New Yorks Union Theological Seminary under Dr. James Cone, the founder of the Black theology of liberation movement in the United States.

Here, I put on my theologians hat and examine Mayor Adams recent postulations and their significance for the broader scope of religion and politics.

To begin to understand the mayors recent remarks it helps to know his religious background. The mayor was raised in a Church of God in Christ (COGIC) congregation. COGIC is a Pentecostal denomination, and a predominantly Black denomination. In fact, it is the largest Pentecostal movement in the United States. The importance of the Black church tradition on his public service has been previously acknowledged by Mayor Adams. In a late 2021 campaign interview with Gotham Gazette, Adams declared, I would not be who I am if it wasnt for the Black church, as a police officer and now as the future mayor of the city.

COGICs reach within the Black community is extensive. The Rev. Al Sharpton was ordained in COGIC, under the leadership of Bishop F.D. Washington, an extraordinary preacher and ecclesial leader. COGIC also counts among its most widely familiar members Denzel Washington (whose family has roots at the Allen Memorial Church of God in Christ congregation in Mount Vernon, NY), Stevie Wonder, and Chris Tucker.

As a Pentecostal denomination, COGIC embraces a theology that is fairly common within such a Christian tradition. It centers the Bible as the Word of God, and embraces many biblical narratives as literal facts, void of any mythic import. It focuses on personal piety; and the belief that Gods Spirit is not a reality aloof from human affairs but is in fact often and consistently at work in individual lives and capable of transforming broader society. This same Spirit is active in the empowerment and uplifting of the most vulnerable.

The significant communal involvement of many Pentecostal and Evangelical churches in underserved communities around our city and state is therefore not surprising. Many of the organizations that have worked on housing, drug rehabilitation, and food insecurity issues, for instance, and that have done so with little or no government funding, have been church-led. To understand Mayor Adams belief that his election is part of Gods purpose for New York is to be aware of this commitment and involvement.

Pentecostals firmly believe in the ever-present reality of God in our historical circumstances. Their fervor for spreading the Gospel (evangelism) is undeniable, including the idea that evangelistic efforts should lead not only to the salvation of souls but also to the transformation of society. Hence, within the Pentecostal tradition it is not uncommon to hear comments like those of Mayor Adams about the necessity of re-instituting certain practices of yesteryear, like prayer in schools.

Inviting Gods Spirit into the mundane, Pentecostals believe, will lead to the needed transformation of society. For Pentecostals, much of the content of Mayor Adams remarks is familiar. Most of them would support his declarations, though some might perhaps take umbrage at the initial remark on the problematic nature of separation of church and state, that Adams subsequently walked back.

The extent of Mayor Adams dependence on Pentecostal thought and practice may end at the idea of Gods continual involvement, and our invitation of Gods involvement in our affairs. For Adams departs from broader Pentecostal practices when it comes to some of his apparent religious practices. For instance, Adams collection of Buddhist statues and his belief that a special energy comes from New York since it sits on a store of rare gems and stones would certainly be considered weird if not heretical by most, if not all, Pentecostals.

In any event, it is clear that the influence of Adams COGIC background continues to permeate much of his worldview.

Adams, considered a moderate-to-conservative Democrat, is not the only elected Democratic official whose political stances are influenced by certain Christian sensibilities. While in New York we can think of a number of former and current elected officials who fit this bill, we can also point to a more national figure who has earned the praise of progressives and moderate Democrats alike.

Senator Reverend Raphael Warnock was raised in the Holiness Church tradition. For him, too, the utterances of Mayor Adams are familiar. Warnocks parents were both pastors and he is also a pastor, serving since 2005 as senior pastor of Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta. Like me, he is a graduate of Union Theological Seminary and a former student of Dr. Cone, referenced above.

To understand the influence and impact of Warnocks religious sensibilities, one need only revisit his victory speech last November. Warnocks speech was filled with vivid religious language. On a national platform, he unapologetically drew on the language of faith that nourished him and that continues to propel his work. After thanking Georgians, Warnock proclaimed the words that countless Christians have uttered through song and sermons to God be the glory!

I have often said that a vote is a kind of prayer for the world we desire for ourselves and for our children. It is faith put in action. It is the sober recognition that we pray not only with our lips but with our legs, the Senator proclaimed, employing the cadences of the preacher that he is.

Again not shying away from articulating his faith, in another instance Warnock described democracy as the fulfillment of a greater spiritual reality: I believe that democracy is the political enactment of a spiritual idea. The notion that each of us has within us a spark of the divineWe all have value. And if we have value, we ought to have a voice. Accentuating this idea, Reverend Warnock declared what guides his own political philosophythe idea that each of us has within us a spark of the divine, that we were created in imago Dei, in the image of God."

Despite some Christian trajectories that are similar to Adams, the theological and political stances of Warnock are in fact quite distinct. As a Baptist minister, Warnock fiercely defends the principle of the separation of church and state, a stance that Baptists consider a key Baptist distinctive, the idea of which goes back to their origins in England and Holland and were brought over to the beginnings of the U.S. through leaders like Roger Williams.

Furthermore, some of Warnocks progressive stances are in fact driven by a particular theological posture, one indebted to the liberation theology movement. At the heart of this movement is the idea that the plight of the most vulnerable is one that deserves our priority response.

While clearly there are differences between Adams and Warnocks worldviews, one cannot deny that faith has and continues to play a pivotal role in their own political philosophies and work, including as elected officials. And they are not shy about expressing this very fact.

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The Theology of Mayor Eric Adams - Gotham Gazette

Updated April 19, 2023 at 10:26 a.m. EDT|Published April 18, 2023 at 5:00 a.m. EDT

NEW YORK Joe Tacopina wasnt seeking anyones permission to represent Donald Trump. I was going to do what I felt right doing, Tacopina says. Even so, the defense attorney felt it proper to dial up some of his celebrity clients and allies A$AP Rocky, Meek Mill, some others to deliver the news himself. Out of respect, as a courtesy, he says. Also: I just wanted to hear what some of these other people how they would react.

As Tacopina remembers it, They all said the same thing: Just do what you do. Youre a litigator. Whatever feelings they had about Trump, he says, they kept to themselves.

The Rev. Al Sharpton, who received one such call, has not been so withholding. Ive said to him, I just wish you had not taken this case what this man has done is destructive, says Sharpton. Nevertheless, the civil rights activist who first met Tacopina years ago, on an MSNBC panel conceded that everyone needs a legal defense. We ended it by saying whatever you choose, well remain friend-ly, he says, but you know, Im gonna be taking shots at your client.

Helping famous (and infamous) people who find themselves in tight spots thats how Tacopina made his name. His clients have included Alex Rodriguez, the Yankees third baseman who sued Major League Baseball over a doping suspension; Lillo Brancato, the Sopranos actor acquitted of murder in the 2005 killing of a New York City police officer; Joran van der Sloot, a suspect in the 2006 disappearance of 18-year-old Natalee Holloway in Aruba; and Kimberly Guilfoyle, fiancee of Donald Trump Jr., when she appeared last year before the House committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol. Hes also taken on the cases of well-known rappers like Mill, for whom Tacopina overturned a drug and gun charge, Rocky, who is facing felony firearm charges, and YG who, incidentally, co-wrote the anti-Trump protest song FDT, which stands for exactly what you think it does.

And now, Tacopina is doing his thing for Trump. Hes co-counsel, with Susan Necheles and Todd Blanche, in the Manhattan district attorneys criminal prosecution over hush money Trump paid to adult-film star Stormy Daniels through then-lawyer Michael Cohen. Trump has pleaded not guilty to 34 felony counts of falsifying business records. Tacopina is also defending Trump in a lawsuit brought by E. Jean Carroll, a writer who has accused Trump of sexually assaulting her in a department-store dressing room in the mid-1990s. That case is slated to go to trial later this month.

Its obvious why Trump would hire Tacopina to represent him in a Manhattan courtroom. Tacopina is a flashy, brawny bulldog of an attorney, like a stock photo of a New York City trial lawyer come to life. Like Trump, Tacopina is a tabloid figure, earning superlatives ranging from New Yorks most hated attorney (The Daily Mail) to New Yorks hottest attorney (GQ). Hes experienced at trial, and has another important skill: He knows how to be a lawyer on television. Tacopina has been a greenroom regular for decades, and Trump has privately praised his TV appearances.

And why would Tacopina represent Trump? He has two criteria for taking on a case: If I think someones been really wronged, and I really fall in love with a person, Tacopina says. To him, the former president meets both.

There have been jabs from late-night comics: Jimmy Kimmel said Tacopina was born in the ashtray of Rudy Giulianis Lincoln Continental, while SNL dubbed him Phony Soprano. Plus, the former president is a notoriously difficult client. Some lawyers reportedly wouldnt work for him because they worry hed stiff them on a bill. Others have found themselves enmeshed in their own legal troubles after helping Trump with his.

Tacopina, who claims to be missing a fear gene, says he is not worried about any of it. Trumps been paying him in a timely manner, he says, and the insults dont bother him. As for finding himself Michael Cohen-ed: Thats not me its never gonna be me.

What does make him a bit anxious, however, is this article even as he welcomed The Washington Post into his Manhattan office and held forth on an array of topics, including his work for Trump, the rumors of tension between him and other Trump attorneys (he complimented his co-counsels, saying Theres a zero-ego zone here), his workout schedule, his history of purchasing Italian soccer clubs, the dinner he says he had with A$AP Rocky and Rihanna the night before the Super Bowl, the time he almost punched opposing counsel during the A-Rod case

My biggest fear ever meeting with you or anything like this is I come across a pompous a--, he said. Im really not trying to be. I am who I am. I care about what I do. I dont believe in my own bulls---.

Tacopinas likeness is affixed to every surface of the Madison Avenue law offices of Tacopina, Seigel, & DeOreo in newspaper photographs, magazine profiles and tabloid headlines mounted behind plexiglass. His personal office a short walk past poster-size courtroom drawings from some of Tacopinas high-profile trials is a shrine to his assorted clientele. Photographs of him and A-Rod. A signed thank-you note from Meek Mill. A Humanitarian of the Year award from Sharpton for his work on the Mill case.

Tacopinas corporeal form heaves through the office entryway, 10 minutes behind schedule. He apologizes for his lateness: Hes returning from a meeting at Trump Tower 15 blocks uptown. The former president had been arraigned two days earlier and Tacopina, a cable news fixture in the weeks leading up to it, declares himself done with that TV s---. The cable-news blitz had been a bid to head off the indictment in the court of public opinion. That hadnt worked, and Trumps court appearance had begotten its own media circus. Now, temporarily free from the obligations of courtrooms and greenrooms, Tacopina has traded his Italian suits for a cashmere turtleneck and jeans so tight they look shrink-wrapped to his thighs.

Tacopina, 57, speaks in a gravelly baritone that bears the accent of a working-class Italian upbringing in Brooklyn. As a Manhattan attorney, he cultivated a taste for the lavish nice watches, luxury cars, a 49-foot yacht. He says hes ditched most of those trappings in recent years, though his casual look includes a Patek Philippe wristwatch so rare it last sold for $3.2 million at auction. He works out five days a week including the morning before Trumps arraignment. (I cant not do that, he says. When I dont do that, I get into a low-energy spot.) He has several tattoos, including one of a Roman eagle on his right hip.

His overall aesthetic answers the question: What if Billy Flynn, the tap-dancing attorney from the musical Chicago, was swallowed whole by Lou Ferrigno? I have a look, obviously I dont look like every lawyer, Tacopina says. Hes a persona in New York, in a good way, says Lara Treinis Gatz, a former federal prosecutor. Hes a street fighter, but with monogrammed French cuffs.

He got his start as a prosecutor in the early 1990s and became a defense attorney in 1995, earning a reputation as a defender of New York City cops accused of grisly crimes like an officer involved in the alleged sodomization of a detained suspect with a broomstick. He won an acquittal for two detectives, dubbed by the tabloids as the rape cops, who were accused in the alleged sexual assault of a drunk woman in her East Village apartment. Sometimes Joe is almost too good, jokes Bill Stanton, a private investigator, of Tacopinas knack for representing clients facing unsavory charges.

Several denizens of New Yorks legal world criticized Tacopinas style and clientele. None were willing to do so on the record.

As co-counsel, hes wonderful, says Marilyn Chinitz, a divorce attorney who worked on a case with Tacopina. As an adversary, be careful.

In the days leading up to Trumps indictment, the former presidents Truth Social account posted a photograph of Trump holding a baseball bat juxtaposed with a portrait of District Attorney Alvin Bragg. The post had been broadly interpreted as a threat, and the judge condemned Trumps irresponsible social media posts during his arraignment. Instead of defending the behavior, Tacopina went to TV to call it ill-advised.

Im not embracing or defending that, Im not doing it Im doing me, Tacopina says now, in his office. Im a hard-charger and all that stuff, but my credibility is what I care about as much as anything. Im not gonna say something just to say something.

Tacopina, who once filmed a pilot for his own reality show (sort of a Judge Judy meets Perry Mason, he told GQ at the time), flinches at comparisons between himself and Trump. He wants people to think of him, and his involvement in the former presidents legal defense, as substantive a matter of law, not politics or personality. Joe really, deep down, thinks that theres bad law here, Sharpton says of the hush money case. Plus, he does not bow away from a tough fight, he adds, even though he may have a dud as his client.

Trump first sought out Tacopinas legal services years ago, he says, but Tacopina turned him down. I cant get into, exactly, what, Tacopina says of Trumps request from back then. It wasnt the right time, it wasnt the right case. But last December, Trump reached out again, and Tacopina made his way to Mar-a-Lago in January, lingering just long enough to sort out which cases hed take on: Carrolls lawsuit and Braggs criminal prosecution.

How are the cases similar, and has he thought about how hell approach each one?

Both cases would not be in a courthouse if it werent Donald Trump as a defendant. Both. So it might be sort of the same type of Joe in both, Tacopina says. Then he starts freewheeling on strategy.

You know, when I did the rape cops case I got an acquittal in that one that was a difficult case. I mean, these guys were called rape cops for two years. Not alleged rape cops they were called rape cops! Presumption of innocence aside, rape cops! But thats the name of the case that became the rape cop drama. So I picked the very smart jury I picked, like, five Ivy Leaguers on that jury. I connected with them saying, Look, guys, you have to be offended. You just gave nine weeks of your life in this room, listening everyday to every piece of evidence. The people popping in and out of the courtroom on glorious days like a summation day or when the main witness testified and write articles that tell you how the case should end up that should be offensive to you guys. Use your intellect and whatnot. And when I cross-examined her someone who I believe was completely embellishing there was no, like, rarrr. It was very sort of soft, surgical, and methodical, obviously. I didnt want to take the risk of even though I wasnt saying she was a victim, she was credible and something did happen to her, unpleasant, that night.

But when it comes to cross-examining Michael Cohen, the ex-Trump lawyer who is expected to be a key witness against Trump in Braggs case, Youll probably see fangs coming out of my mouth.

What would it mean to Tacopina to win?

First-ballot Hall of Famer as a lawyer, he says.

He laughs, then slackens his smile into a thin line of concern. It would really mean that despite all the odds being stacked against us in this county despite people saying we cant get a fair trial or a fair judge or fair anything that the system still does work.

Tacopina compares the stakes of his work for Trump to the famous quote by the Rev. Martin Niemller the one that describes bystander failing to speak up when the Nazis come for different groups, one by one, until they came for me and there was no one left to speak for me. He compares his task to that of John Adams, when Americas second president was the reluctant defense attorney for the British in the Boston Massacre.

He was the greatest criminal-defense lawyer, Tacopina says of Adams. He takes on the most unpopular case in U.S. history and he was able to get them acquitted.

I dont want to make myself seem more important than I am.

correction

An earlier version of this article described Alex Rodriguez as the Yankees' shortstop. He played third base. This version has been corrected.

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Joe Tacopina is pretty sure he can get Trump out of this - The Washington Post

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. Teaching Black history is required by Florida law, but 10 Investigates uncovered that the state task force in charge of helping schools comply with that law has been shrinking for years.

People on the task force say theyve been vetting and recommending new members to the Florida Department of Education, but the Education Commissioner hasnt appointed anyone in years.

Unless youve been living in the Magic Kingdom, youve probably heard about the protests and controversy over recent changes to how Florida schools teach Black history.

We will never surrender to the woke mob. Florida is where woke goes to die, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said during his inaugural speech in January.

That same month, the governors administration blocked an Advanced Placement course on African American Studies, saying the curriculum is being used to indoctrinate students into woke ideology.

This course on Black history whats one of the lessons about? Queer theory, DeSantis said. They have stuff about intersectionality, abolishing prisons. Thats a political agenda.

They are saying, no, no, no, well have Black history. But for them to write Black history and decide Black history is a national standard that we cannot allow to happen, civil rights leader Rev. Al Sharpton said during a February Save Our History rally in Tallahassee.

A Florida Department of Education training PowerPoint on Library Media and Instructional Materials, dated January 2023, says, Factors to consider include Avoiding unsolicited theories that may lead to student indoctrination.

Credit: Florida Department of Education

Last year, the governor signed the Individual Freedom Act, also known as the Stop WOKE Act, which, among other things, made changes to Floridas law requiring that students learn about Black history.

It added that "classroom instruction and curriculum may not be used to indoctrinate or persuade students to a particular point of view."

That law also says, the education department may seek input from the Commissioner of Educations African American History Task Force on Black history standards and curriculum.

Credit: 10 Tampa Bay

After people on the African American History Task Force told 10 Investigates their membership was shrinking, we traveled to Tallahassee for a Task Force meeting on March 31.

Weve got to get some additional blood on this task force, AAHTF Vice-Chair Dr. Samuel Wright said during the meeting. We dont have time to waste.

While the meeting room at Florida A&M University looked packed, only two voting members of the task force were actually there for the meeting: Wright and Dr. Brenda Walker.

Most of the other people in the room were Department of Education employees.

Credit: 10 Tampa Bay

Our photojournalist and two investigative reporters were the only members of the public who showed up to this public meeting.

The meeting notice listed the wrong building and room number.

Wright said it was the smallest number of members theyve ever had at a meeting.

Although the groups website shows seven people on the Task Force members page, only four of them are actually voting members: Walker, Wright, Dr. Donna Austin, and Tracy Oliver.

Austin and Oliver did not attend the March 31 meeting. They have not responded to 10 Investigates questions about the shrinking task force.

Task Force membership over time

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Credit: Wayback Machine

A screenshot of the Task Force page on Oct. 26, 2020.

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Credit: Wayback Machine

A screenshot of the Task Force page on Dec. 26, 2019.

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Credit: Wayback Machine

A screenshot of the Task Force page on April 23, 2021.

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Credit: Wayback Machine

A screenshot of the Task Force page on May 28, 2022.

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Credit: Wayback Machine

A screenshot of the Task Force page on April 4, 2023.

Although Dr. Bernadette Kelley-Brown attended last months meeting, as the Task Forces principal investigator, she does not get to vote.

Congresswoman Frederica Wilson and State Senator Geraldine Thompson are Emerita members. Those are legacy roles, so they can participate in the groups activities, but they cant vote.

10 Investigates used an internet archiving tool called the Wayback Machine to look at snapshots of the task forces website over the past several years.

In December 2019, the site showed there were 13 members.

Again, now there are seven and only four can vote.

There is no longer a chairperson.

Weve lost quite a few along the way, Wright said. I guess they just could no longer serve or whatever just falling off or resigning for other purposes, other reasons.

10 Investigates asked Wright how he would describe the current state of Black history education in Florida.

Well, its sort of, like, at a dead end when we look at the message were getting from the governors office versus what were getting from the commissioner of educations office, he said. Theres a disconnect because one group is saying one thing and another group is saying something else. We need to come together so we can make some things happen in the state of Florida.

Credit: 10 Tampa Bay

AAHTF Vice-Chair Dr. Samuel Wright

Wright said people on the task force have been recommending new members to the Florida Department of Education, but the education commissioner hasnt appointed anyone in years.

Manny Diaz became education commissioner in June 2022. His predecessor, Richard Corcoran, served in the role from December 2018 until April 2022.

For weeks, 10 Investigates called and emailed seven people within the Department of Education more than a dozen times about the groups dwindling membership. We sent questions, public records requests, and requests to interview Diaz.

Credit: 10 Tampa Bay

Commissioner Manny Diaz Jr.

No one got back to us, so we showed up at the Department of Educations office in Tallahassee on March 30 and asked if Diaz was there.

Security had us talk to his assistant, Karen Dennis, on the phone. Dennis told us Diaz was on his way back to Miami, but shed see if Diaz could talk to us the following week.

That didnt happen.

When we followed up, Dennis told us Diaz had no interview availability during the two weeks after that, either.

At the task force meeting on March 31, Florida Department of Education spokesperson Cassie Palelis didnt want to talk.

This is a work group meeting a task force meeting. And so, were not taking questions at this time, Palelis told 10 Investigates before heading for the exit.

Well, when are you taking questions? Because weve been emailing you and calling you with questions for weeks, investigative reporter Jenna Bourne asked. When can we expect to hear back?

Well take a look at your questions. Thank you, Palelis said shortly before leaving the building.

Palelis has not responded to our subsequent emails.

During a task force break, we tried to speak with another person weve been reaching out to for weeks: Cindy Huffman, the Florida Department of Educations Director of Family and Community Engagement. Shes also the liaison between the Department of Education and the AAHTF.

Ill need to refer you to Dr. Aune, Huffman said.

So, we approached Department of Education Vice-Chancellor Dr. Margaret Peggy Aune.

If you could provide [your questions] to the communications office Aune said.

I certainly have been, for weeks, Bourne replied.

Yes, and well be happy to follow up, Aune said.

They didnt.

During the meeting, Huffman said she would send the AAHTF a list of prospective new members nominated by the Department of Education and people currently on the task force the following week.

That didnt happen, either.

Read more:
Florida's African American History Task Force has been quietly shrinking for years - WTSP.com

NEW YORK (AP) WNBA All-Star Brittney Griner made a surprise appearance Friday at a womens empowerment luncheon held during the Rev. Al Sharptons National Action Network in New York City.

Griner, who this week announced that she would write a book about her nearly 10-month detainment in Russia, thanked those gathered at the luncheon for the advocacy that contributed to her release in last December.

Everyone in this room that came together, that sent up every prayer, it reached me while I was there, Griner, 32, told a packed hotel banquet hall in midtown Manhattan.

I want to continue to fight to bring every American detained overseas, she said.

For months during her detainment, Sharpton, Black clergy and racial justice activists across the U.S. pushed U. S. officials to secure the basketball stars release. She was freed in exchange for the notorious Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout.

Sharpton presented Griner with an award, saluting the strength she exhibited during her detainment.

The 6-foot-9 Griner has re-signed with the Phoenix Mercury and will resume her WNBA career when the season tips off next month.

Continued here:
Brittney Griner makes appearance at Rev. Al Sharpton event - Toronto Star

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Watch again as the families of George Floyd, Tyre Nichols and Eric Garner held a meeting with Reverend Al Sharpton and Ben Crump on Wednesday, 12 April.

The civil rights activist and attorney are leading a discussion on police reform at the Sheraton Times Square hotel in New York City.

Mayor Eric Adams will also be in attendance.

The families are expected to speak about the changes they have seen after their loved ones were killed by police, and the additional reforms they would like to see in the future.

Mr Floyd, a 45-year-old Black man, died after police officer Derek Chauvin kneeled on his neck for more than nine minutes in May 2020.

Chauvin was found guilty of murder.

Mr Nichols, 29, died several days after a violent traffic stop in which police officers beat him repeatedly in January 2023.

Mr Garner, 43, was killed on a Staten Island street in 2014 after being placed in a banned chokehold by a police officer.

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Watch again: Families of George Floyd, Eric Garner, and Tyre Nichols meet Rev. Al Sharpton and Ben Crump - The Independent