People gather to honor George Floyd’s life and continue calls for justice at Island Park

FARGO, N.D. (KVRR) – Nine minutes and 29 seconds of silence.

It’s part of how both children and adults are paying their respects to George Floyd at Island Park in Fargo, one year after he was killed.

“It’s a way to remind people that we don’t forget and we still fighting to make people being aware of racism and how the police still play a role in it,” said Bahati Numbi of Moorhead.

One year ago, Floyd lost his life at the hands of Minneapolis Police.

His murder has been the catalyst for protests and calls for justice across the country and here in Fargo.

“Personally, I feel like there’s been progress,” Manny Stone of Moorhead said. “I mean, it’s taken a long time, you know, but I think it’s starting to come around and getting a lot of support from everywhere.”

Although some progress in racial equity has been made, some say it’s not enough.

“We’re hoping for more,” Faith Shields-Dixon of Black Lives Matter Fargo-Moorhead emphasized.

Congress has not yet passed the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act which would ban chokeholds and no-knock warrants on the federal level but people here are cautiously optimistic.

“We need change and we need it now,” Shields-Dixon said. “Timeout for all of the deadlines. The deadline is now. It has been a year since we saw a man killed on social media.”

Moving forward, transparency and building trust is top of mind for many.

“Body cameras are a good start, and I’d like to see the numbers of who’s stopping and why they’re being stopped and where they’re going and how it’s being handled,” Tracey Lwilkie of Fargo and Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa said.

The police reform bill inspired by Floyd was approved by the House for a second time back in March.

It is stalled in the Senate.