John Cornyn: “ours is a nation with a split screen of a battle on two fronts. One is the pandemic that we have been fighting now for…”

“ours is a nation with a split screen of a battle on two fronts. One is the pandemic that we have been fighting now for many months, and the other is to continue the fight to defeat racial injustice that has sadly divided our Nation since its very inception. One week ago today, George Floyd, a native Houstonian, tragically died in the custody of a law enforcement officer. As the gut-wrenching video of his death has spread, so has the passion and the anger among all of us who wonder, how can something like that happen? Our Constitution guarantees every American the right to protest injustice, and I believe we all have a responsibility to stand up for what is right and condemn what is plainly wrong. People of all colors, backgrounds, and ages are demanding that justice be served in the case of George Floyd. The first step in that process came on Friday when the officer who had him in custody was himself arrested and charged with third-degree murder. Devastating events like the death of George Floyd remind us that we have a long way to go in the fight for equal justice under the law, but we cannot yield to the temptation to fill the void created by this tragedy with violence. Too many protests across our country have turned into riots with looting and vandalism and destruction, hurting innocent people and tearing our cities apart.…”