Story at a glance
- The Texas State Board of Pardons and Paroles voted unanimously in recommending a pardon for Floyd Monday.
- The recommendation now heads to Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R), who will make a final decision on whether to grant Floyd clemency.
The Texas State Board of Pardons and Paroles voted in favor of recommending that George Floyd receive a full posthumous pardon for a 2004 drug conviction in Houston.
The board voted unanimously to recommend the pardon for Floyd on Monday, according to The Texas Tribune. The recommendation now heads to Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R), who will make a final decision on whether to grant Floyd clemency.
Abbott’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Changing America.
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Floyd, who previously resided in Houston, was arrested in 2004 by former Houston police officer Gerald Goines for selling $10 worth of crack cocaine during a sting operation. Floyd pleaded guilty to the charge and was sentenced to 10 months in jail, according to The Associated Press (AP).
But cases involving Goines have come under scrutiny after he conducted a 2019 raid that resulted in the death of a Houston couple. Goines is facing two felony murder charges in connection to the incident as prosecutors argue he lied to obtain a search warrant, according to AP.
More than 160 of Goines’ arrest cases have been reviewed and dismissed since and the Harris County Public Defender’s office submitted a pardon request on behalf of Floyd in April. Houston public defender Allison Mathis claimed the officer fabricated evidence in Floyd’s case.
“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,” Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg said in a release.
“We urge Governor Abbott to follow the Board’s recommendation and grant clemency,” Ogg said.
Floyd died in Minneapolis in May 2020 when former police officer Derek Chauvin pressed his knee into Floyd’s neck for more than nine minutes during an arrest. The gruesome incident was caught on video and sparked a nationwide reckoning on racial inequality and police brutality.
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