George Floyd: How his family, the country, and Connecticut have changed 5 years later

Sunday will mark five years since George Floyd was killed by a police officer in Minneapolis.

And for his uncle and others the work to turn their grief into action continues today.

“Continued disarray, dysfunction, continued death, oppression. We've seen quite a bit of that in the last five years. Has laws changed? Yeah. But will we ever have enough laws change where everybody feels safe?” Selwyn Jones, the uncle of George Floyd, told NBC Connecticut in an interview.

Jones is looking to drive progress by cofounding an organization called Justice 929.

Videos captured the nine minutes and 29 seconds the officer knelt on Floyd’s neck.

“I always call it 'D Day' because the day that we saw George Floyd is the day that we feel like we had an opportunity to make an impact and to make a change in society,” Jones said.

Jones’ nonprofit helps those wrongfully convicted and those affected by police brutality, supports the homeless, improves youth mental health and fights to reduce gun violence.

They’re also rallying to reform law enforcement and justice systems.

“It's been five years but you're not going to change 150 years of policing in just five years. But we are making a lot of headway and we are going in the right direction,” Lorenzo Boyd, a community policing professor at the University of New Haven, said.

Boyd believes, despite some national and states’ efforts to roll back progress, many people can understand this is not an anti-police issue.

“The bottom line is we're going to get together and police officers are going to understand community relations better. The flip side of that is we need communities to also understand what's going on in policing,” Boyd said.

Jones says after seeing the effects of systemic racism he believes a lot of hate can be eliminated if people just treat others the way they’d want to be treated.

And since his nephew’s death he’s taking every opportunity to make sure his voice is heard.

“We got to keep fighting, keep pushing,” Jones said.

When protests erupted all around the state five years ago, people felt deep anger, frustration and sadness about the killing of Floyd.

“When I think about George Floyd five years ago, I'm remembering what brought us to that moment,” Bishop John Selders, of Moral Monday CT, said. “And then what was like what it was like this time five years ago when, when all of Connecticut was a fire.”

Political leaders, like the New Haven mayor, joined protests.

And on Interstate 84 in Hartford, a protest turned into a prayer circle joined by law enforcement.

Selders sees the events from five years ago as a moment in the long trajectory of a movement toward justice.

“I think what we did do and what that moment portends for us in the future, that change is possible, that we can hope and we can work toward a better future for all of us here in Hartford, state of Connecticut, and across this country and world,” Selders said.

One area of change was the state enacting reforms with the Police Accountability Act.

Those required body cameras, banned most chokeholds, created independent investigations into the deadly use of force and other measures.

It also calls for mental health screenings and training for officers.

“It took us a long time to realize as well as that we are human and we are impacted by the tragedy and the strife that we see day in and day out, in doing our jobs,” Waterbury Police Chief Fernando Spagnolo said.

 Spagnolo says while the law has its positives, there were also updates that were needed as it played out over the years.

And he believes you can still be tough on crime while supporting inclusive efforts.

“Our philosophy here in Waterbury is to take an aggressive approach to policing the city, in a very aggressive stance, especially towards violent crime that occurs here,” Spagnolo said  “We are a very diverse police department. We do our best and I think we do a good job at mirroring the community that we serve.”

In a statement, the Connecticut Police Chiefs Association said since 2020 they continue to work to enhance training, officer selection, transparency, and accountability.

Adding:

“Reflecting on this anniversary, we reaffirm our duty to serve all communities with fairness, integrity, and humanity.”

Selders says while he’s seen some progress in police and community relations he also has concerns about some national efforts to roll back diversity work and how people respond to that.

“We're not done. Clearly,” Selders said.