Texas State Board of Pardons and Paroles Unanimously Voted to Recommend Posthumous Pardon for George Floyd

There has been a movement to get a posthumous pardon for police killing victim George Floyd in the state of Texas.

According to CNN, on Monday, the Texas State Board of Pardons and Paroles voted unanimously in favor of giving Floyd a full posthumous pardon for a 2004 drug conviction.

In April, Allison Mathis of the Harris County Public Defender’s Office filed an application for the pardon on behalf of Floyd and his family. She stated that she filed the application due to the arresting officer’s actions in Floyd’s case. The police officer, Gerald Goines, “manufactured the existence of confidential informants to bolster his cases against innocent defendants.”

A statement was released from the Office of District Attorney Kim Ogg of Harris County, Texas:

“We lament the loss of former Houstonian George Floyd and hope that his family finds comfort in Monday’s decision by the Texas State Board of Pardons and Paroles to recommend clemency for a 2004 conviction involving former Houston Police Department Officer Gerald Goines. In a April 28, 2021 letter to the Board, Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg stated, “We do not support the integrity of Mr. Floyd’s conviction and agree these circumstances warrant a posthumous pardon.” We urge Governor Abbott to follow the Board’s recommendation and grant clemency.”

Now, according to Ogg, the final decision on whether to grant Floyd clemency resides with Gov. Greg Abbott.

This news comes in on the heels of a report that a skateboarder was caught on surveillance footage vandalizing a George Floyd statue in New York City.

The statue was defaced just two days after being unveiled in New York City’s Union Square, NBC News reports. The bust of Floyd was vandalized at around 10 a.m. Sunday with security video showing the vandal skateboarder mixing the paint behind the sculpture before defacing it and skating away.