Rubio Proposes Investigating George Floyd Protests if GOP Takes Back Senate

Florida Senator Marco Rubio has called for congressional hearings into the protests triggered by the 2020 killing of George Floyd if Republicans retake Congress.

Rubio, a Republican facing a challenge from Democratic congresswoman Val Demings in the November midterm election, made the remarks during an appearance on Fox News' The Ingraham Angle on Monday night.

Asked what Republicans plan to do if they take control of the Senate, Rubio said they have to "stop bad things from happening" and "crazy people from getting into positions of power."

He also told host Laura Ingraham that accountability was needed. "We have to use our oversight role that we have," Rubio said. "We should have hearings, for example, on the riots of the summer of 2020.

"There's been no accountability about the summer of 2020. Who was behind it? How much did the political rhetoric lend itself to it? For example, these efforts to bail people out of jail in 2020, how many people did that encourage to come back out and do that all over again?"

Rubio's campaign has been contacted for comment.

His calls come after congressional Republicans have pledged to launch investigations into President Joe Biden and his family, and Dr. Anthony Fauci, among others, if they retake a majority in Congress in November.

Floyd, a 46-year-old Black man, died in Minneapolis on May 25, 2020, after then-police officer Derek Chauvin, who is white, knelt on his neck for more than nine minutes.

Video showing Floyd repeatedly crying "I can't breathe" before growing still went viral after it was shared on social media, sparking protests and unrest that began in Minneapolis and quickly spread to other cities.

People took to the streets as part of a wider reckoning over racial injustice in the U.S., but some demonstrations descended into unrest, with violence, vandalism and looting reported in some places. Police responded with tear gas and other tactics to quell unrest in some cities.

Chauvin was convicted of second-degree unintentional murder, third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter in Floyd's death in April 2021 and later sentenced to 22 1/2 years in prison.

Earlier this year, he was sentenced to 21 years in federal prison after pleading guilty to violating Floyd's civil rights. He will serve his state and federal sentences concurrently.

Three other former officers allegedly involved in Floyd's death were also charged: J. Alexander Kueng who knelt on Floyd's back, Thomas Lane who held his legs and Tou Thao who had kept bystanders back.

Kueng and Thao averted a trial after the former pleaded guilty to manslaughter and the latter agreed to let a judge decide his fate based on the evidence in the case.

Kueng had been set to stand trial on Monday on charges of aiding and abetting both murder and manslaughter.

Instead, Keung pleaded guilty to aiding and abetting second-degree manslaughter in exchange for the murder count being dismissed, The Associated Press reported.

Thao agreed to a stipulated evidence trial on the aiding and abetting manslaughter count. If Thao is convicted, the aiding and abetting murder count will be dropped.

Lane was convicted of federal charges in February and is serving a 2 1/2-year sentence. He pleaded guilty to state charges in May.