On the recordMay 27, 2020
I want to pause for a moment and now come to something that has soaked my very DNA and my soul, and that is that a young man by the name of Ahmaud Arbery cannot jog in Georgia and be left to his constitutional rights. They were denied. He was gunned down for absolutely no reason whatsoever. It must be addressed. There must be a trial, and there must be justice. Justice will render not his life back to his family, but it will render truth. As a member of the Judiciary Committee, I have written letters, and I look forward to us organizing a response that I have asked for in terms of hearing from the victims and their various representatives. Brianna Taylor was going to be a nurse; Mr. Arbery was going to be an electrician. She was going to be a nurse. She was doing what Americans do--sleeping, getting ready for work the next day--and lo and behold, she was bombarded; she was invaded. And she was the wrong house and the wrong person, and that person was in custody already. We must demand justice. When you have the color of law and when you have those whom you look to for sanctity and you can respect them when they are doing their work, you must also--and I ask my fellow lawmakers and, also, law upholders--stand together. Now, brother George Floyd, I was up until 2 in the morning with the pain of the video. George Floyd, his family--he was raised in Houston in my district--went to Jack Yates High School. There are people mourning in Houston, Texas.…
