AUSTIN, Texas – Outside of George Floyd's public memorial last summer in Texas, Republican Gov. Greg Abbott floated the possibility of a law named in honor of the Houston native that would take aim at police brutality.
But nine months later, as a Minneapolis police officer charged in Floyd's death is set to stand trial next week and a George Floyd Act is heard in the Texas Capitol for the first time Thursday, there are scarce early signs of GOP support for the package of sweeping police reforms introduced by Democrats, including from Abbott.
It reflects the challenges facing the efforts in Texas, where Floyd, who was Black, was laid to rest following his death in May after former police officer Derek Chauvin, who is white, pressed his knee