Texas officials support pardoning George Floyd over drug arrest in 2004

Texas officials on Tuesday voted unanimously to support a resolution calling for George Floyd to be posthumously pardoned for a drug arrest from over 15 years ago.

All five members of the Harris County Commissioners Court voted to approve a resolution in support of the pardon request. The request was submitted last month to the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles.

Floyd was arrested in 2004 by former police officer Gerald Giones for selling $10 worth of crack cocaine in a police sting. Giones is now, in a separate case, facing two counts of felony murder for killing a Houston couple in a deadly 2019 drug raid.

Prosecutors in the case claim that Giones lied about obtaining a search warrant for the home of the couple and claimed that an informant had previously bought drugs at the location. However, prosecutors claim that Giones himself bought the drugs.

Officials have also claimed that Giones made up a confidential informant in Floyd’s case as well. Floyd in the case pleaded guilty to drug charges and received a 10-month stint in jail.

The Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles will decide whether to recommend a pardon, and Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) will ultimately decide on the move.

Commissioner Rodney Ellis, whose precinct includes the neighborhood where Floyd once lived, introduced the resolution for the posthumous pardon. The commissioner on Tuesday tweeted that “We’ll never get true justice for George Floyd and his family, but he deserves that we set the record straight.”

We’ll never get true justice for George Floyd and his family, but he deserves that we set the record straight.

Today, Harris County Commissioners Court adopted a resolution I presented requesting a posthumous pardon for #GeorgeFloyd. pic.twitter.com/lt3hoQpz1m

— Rodney Ellis (@RodneyEllis) May 11, 2021

More than 160 drug convictions tied to Giones have been dismissed by prosecutors, according to The Associated Press.

Floyd was killed by former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin last year, with Chauvin kneeling on his neck for several minutes during an arrest. Chauvin earlier this spring was convicted on murder charges for Floyd’s death.

The killing sparked protests across the country calling for widespread police and criminal justice reforms.