Updated May 25, 2025 at 4:01 AM CDT
The death of George Floyd lit a fire in the U.S. in the summer of 2020 — and the years that followed.
Floyd died after a white police officer kneeled on his neck for more than 9 minutes. Images caught on cellphone video circulated around the world — moving millions to protest, demonstrate and march in the months following Floyd's death.
Congressional and state lawmakers pushed for legislative change in the criminal justice system. And about 20 states restricted or clarified the types of force that police officers are permitted to use and how. For example, some states banned chokeholds, limited use of force on people trying to flee the scene, and required police officers to report using force to the state or federal government, according to the Brennan Center for Justice.
No police reform laws were enacted at the federal level. But then-Attorney General Merrick Garland opened a federal civil rights investigation into the Minneapolis Police Department in 2021, one day after a jury convicted former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin in Floyd's murder. The federal probe found that officers in the department routinely used excessive force against Black civilians and discriminated against people with mental health issues.
Days before former President Biden left the White House in January 2025, the city of Minneapolis and Biden's Justice Department signed a proposed consent decree that would enact substantial changes in the city's police department. Updates to officer protocols included banning chokeholds and neck restraints. The consent decree also directed officers to report any colleagues, no matter their rank, if they believed they were violating another person's rights.
But earlier this week, just days before the fifth solemn anniversary of Floyd's death, President Trump's Justice Department filed a motion to dismiss the Minneapolis consent decree and a similar lawsuit in Louisville, Ky., that had been opened after the police shooting of Breonna Taylor.
Civil rights and police reform advocates and government leaders cite examples of progress that has been made to address and eliminate racial bias in policing, local government, and the broader legal system. But critics say there is also regression and resistance to those changes.
To unpack this dynamic, NPR's Michel Martin spoke to Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison, Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey and civil rights attorney Benjamin Crump.
Ellison prosecuted the case against Chauvin. Frey, as mayor since 2017, led Minneapolis through the 2020 protests. Crump represented Floyd's family and relatives of other victims of police violence, including Trayvon Martin and Breonna Taylor.
Here's what they had to say about efforts to reform policing and the justice system, and how they are navigating pushback against those changes.
The following interviews were lightly edited for length and clarity.
Frey on committing to police reform
Martin: What has changed in the five years since George Floyd was killed by a Minneapolis police officer?
Frey: George Floyd's murder was a 100-years-in-the-making reckoning around racial justice. And in Minneapolis, of course, we felt it very acutely. We recognize and we own that we are the city where George Floyd was murdered. And we're also the city that's going to get this right. We're going to be the example for so many others to follow in the way that we do police reform.
Martin: The Department of Justice announced that it wants to withdraw from the consent decree. And basically all city leadership said that you're going to do this anyway. The question I have is, doesn't that send a mixed message? And if it does, how do you reinforce the message that you want to send?
Frey: Whether or not the White House cares about police reform, we do here in the city of Minneapolis. And every single sentence of every single paragraph of that 169-page agreement, we're going to work towards compliance with. People have been demanding a change for years, and we're not backing away from this agreement simply because Donald Trump is backing away.
Martin: There are people who still argue that the change is taking too long, for example, implementing public safety measures that don't rely solely on policing to respond to sort of different situations. What do you say to that?
Frey: We haven't just talked about having mental health responders, we have them available 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Five years ago, we talked about wanting to have a response that didn't just involve an officer with a gun. Sometimes it's a mental health responder. And I'll just be real with you. It's not easy to build out, because what are the metrics that you use to track how they're doing? What specifically are they responding to, and how do they do so safely? You can't just send anybody into a circumstance that might be dangerous or violent.
Martin: How do you want the events of May of 2020 to be remembered?
Frey: We need to move forward. We shouldn't move on in the sense that we're forgetting what happened. You got to remember it. You got to acknowledge it. And you got to work like crazy to bend intentionally that arc of justice.
Ellison on progress in Minneapolis
Martin: What do you think about the timing of the Trump administration's announcement to back out of the proposed consent decree?
Ellison: I think the timing is designed directly to demonstrate contempt for George Floyd, George Floyd's family, everybody who protested and wanted a more just outcome. Everybody who's trying to build a more trusting, more effective relationship between police and community should be offended. But that's sort of par for the course, isn't it? I mean, wasn't it Donald Trump who said, 'when the looting starts, the shooting starts?' He's like the master of disaster.
Martin: A federal investigation found that the Minneapolis police engaged in a pattern of unjustified deadly force, unlawful discrimination against Black and Native American people, and violated citizens free speech rights when they objected. There's a state consent decree. If the state essentially found the same thing, was a federal consent decree really necessary, in your opinion?
Ellison: Yes, it was. Five years ago, in 2020 and 2021, some people said, 'Well, why is the state doing this, since it's pretty clear that the feds are going to do an investigation?' Well, now we know that we were wise to do it, don't we? Because you never know who's going to win the next presidential election. And they could be somebody like Donald Trump. So, you have to wear a belt and suspenders.
Martin: The independent monitor who's been asked to oversee the city's progress in meeting the goals set out in that state agreement – they said that the city is making progress in a number of areas. What's your reaction to it, and what do you say to people who argue, it's been five years, does it really take this long to make meaningful change?
Ellison: The success that we've had is because a lot of people really put a lot of time and energy into it and really committed to meaningful reform. So I hope that our progress continues. Of course, we've had some cases that have been disturbing. We lost a young man named Amir Locke. You know, it's not like we've had trouble-free. But in the main, I think that we're making consistent progress….This problem is at least 100 years old. As long as we're moving in the right direction – not satisfied – but I'll take the progress.
Crump on court fights for justice
Martin: What do you think it is about George Floyd's death that sparked this kind of worldwide movement?
Crump: Michel, you and I first met during the Trayvon Martin case where Trayvon Martin's killer was not held accountable. You look at all of the tragedies: Michael Brown in Ferguson – 'Hands up! Don't shoot!' You look at Tamir Rice playing on the playground, being shot within 1 1/2 seconds of the police arriving there. Philando Castile, Sandra Bland, so many where there was no justice. And so, when you get to George Floyd, it's almost a clarion call to everybody who felt like Trayvon could have been their son, that Sandra Bland could have been their daughter. Now you're seeing George Floyd and you're saying, 'We must get justice.'
Martin: You first became a national figure after Trayvon Martin was killed back in 2012. Since then, you've handled so many of these cases. On the one hand, you've had tremendous success in bringing some measure of peace to these families. Still, you keep getting these cases. And I wonder how you feel about that or how you think about that?
Crump: If every time they shoot a Black man in the back, we can make them pay $10, $20 million, hopefully that will stop them from killing us in such extraordinary, unbelievable ways. And even though we win every time in the civil court, it's the criminal courts that we can't control. Only the elected officials can. And so, we have to make sure we're electing prosecutors and legislators to make laws and make sure those laws are followed fairly and equally.
Martin: What kind of conversation do you think we'll be having five years from now?
Crump: I think it'll be a very similar conversation. We've been having this conversation for 400 years in America. So like Frederick Douglass said, we can't get depressed because of the struggle. We have to celebrate the struggle. Because without struggle, there could be no progress. And so, as long as we're fighting, that means we are giving our children a better chance to have a better world. And that's what motivates me every day.
The digital story was edited by Obed Manuel and Treye Green. The audio story was produced by Barry Gordemer and edited by Jan Johnson.
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