Pelosi condemns police death, GOP convention plan

US Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi called the death of George Floyd who died while in Minneapolis police custody a crime.

Other local Minneapolis leaders, including the mayor have called for criminal charges charges to be filed against the white police officer seen on video kneeling against the neck of a handcuffed black man who complained that he could not breathe and died in police custody.

The chair of the House Democratic Caucus, Rep. Hakeem Jeffries said, "there appears to be a growing epidemic of police brutality, assault and violence directed at African-American men or women throughout the country that has increased in scale in the midst of this pandemic."

Pelosi also criticized President Donald Trump for not wearing a mask publicly and for pushing North Carolina officials to reassure him on whether the Republican National Convention can go on as planned there this summer.

Trump has threatened to pull the convention out of North Carolina if that state's Democratic governor doesn't assure him that the August gathering can go forward despite coronavirus fears.