Joe Biden delivers in-person remarks on George Floyd protests

Presumptive Democratic nominee Joe Biden delivered an address Tuesday morning regarding the protests and riots that overtook the nation this weekend in reaction to the murder of George Floyd.

“‘I can’t breathe, I can’t breathe,’ George Floyd’s last words. But they didn’t die with him. They’re still being heard. They’re echoing across this nation,” the former vice president said as he began his remarks.

Biden spoke in front of press and local leaders at Philadelphia’s City Hall, marking his first in-person address to the nation since the coronavirus pandemic forced his campaign indoors, where he was operating from a makeshift television studio in the basement of his Delaware home.

The 2020 hopeful went on to describe Floyd’s murder as “a wake-up call for our nation. For all of us.”

Biden continued by offering praise and understanding toward peaceful protesters, but cautioning that there “is no place for violence.”

The Democratic presidential candidate added that he sees “no place for looting or destroying property or burning churches, or destroying businesses — many of them built by people of color who for the first time were beginning to realize their dreams and build wealth for their families.”

Cities across the US were rocked by yet another night of heated protests, violence against cops and looting on Monday evening — which marked one week since Floyd’s murder.

The nighttime chaos unfolded in places like New York City, Las Vegas, Buffalo and St. Louis, where four police officers were shot and downtown areas ransacked by looters and left in flames.

Dozens of cities have imposed curfews in hopes of curtailing the violence and looting, while governors in 23 states and DC have activated 67,000 troops with the National Guard.

Protests and riots erupted across the nation over the weekend in a show of outrage against the murder of Floyd, an unarmed black man, by a white police officer in Minneapolis last week.

Floyd could be heard in video of the killing pleading that he could not breathe while being pinned down by since-fired Minneapolis Police Officer Derek Chauvin for over eight minutes.

The former vice president went on to condemn police officers who have been on duty during the protests, saying it is unacceptable “for our police — sworn to protect and serve all people — to escalate tensions or resort to excessive violence.

“We need to distinguish between legitimate peaceful protest — and opportunistic violent destruction.”

With the general election in mind, Biden turned his attention toward President Trump, denouncing his Monday afternoon visit to Washington DC’s historic St. John’s Episcopal Church.

With Secret Service agents in tow, Trump walked across Lafayette Park from the White House and stood outside the church to highlight how it had been damaged in a fire caused by riots the night before.

Attorney General William Barr, Defense Secretary Mark Esper and chief of staff Mark Meadows were among the high-ranking officials with Trump, who posed for photos outside the boarded-up church, holding a Bible, where protesters had been demonstrating just minutes earlier.

In order to clear out the area ahead of time, military police and law enforcement — aided by a series of military vehicles — clashed with protesters.

“When peaceful protestors are dispersed by the order of the President from the doorstep of the people’s house, the White House — using tear gas and flash grenades — in order to stage a photo op at a noble church, we can be forgiven for believing that the president is more interested in power than in principle,” Biden remarked.

“The President held up a bible at St. John’s church yesterday — I just wish he opened it once in a while instead of brandishing it. If he opened it he could have learned something: that we are all called to love one another as we love ourselves. That’s really hard work. But it’s the work of America. Donald Trump isn’t interested in doing that work,” he continued.

As for policy proposals to enact change after Floyd’s murder, Biden offered some suggestions.

First, he called on Congress to pass Rep. Hakeem Jeffries’ (D-NY) legislation outlawing chokeholds, saying that the bill should be able to reach President Trump’s desk in a matter of days.

He then called for three other measures — to stop transferring weapons of war to police forces, improve oversight and accountability and create a model use of force standard — to be made law this month.

“No more excuses. No more delays,” he said.

Second, Biden pledged to create a national police oversight commission within the first 100 days of his presidency.

Speaking to African American community leaders at Bethel AME Church in Wilmington, Delaware on Monday morning, the ex-VP said that during the Obama-Biden administration, “We set up, in the Justice Department, the ability for the Civil Rights Division to go in and look at the practices and policies of police departments. That’s why we were able to stop stop-and-frisk.”

Biden said he would “re-establish that with more teeth in it, because we also have to fundamentally change the way in which police are trained.”

Third, he argued that “each and every police department in the country” needs “to undertake a comprehensive review of their hiring, their training, and their de-escalation practices.

“And the federal government should give them the tools and resources they need to implement reforms,” he said.

The White House contender said that while most police officers “meet the highest standards of their profession…bad cops should be dealt with severely and swiftly.

“We all need to take a hard look at the culture that allows for these senseless tragedies to keep happening.”