A statue of the late George Floyd has been unveiled in the state of New Jersey this week.
Per CBS News, the 700-pound bronze sculpture sits outside Newark city hall in honor of Floyd, who was killed by the now-convicted ex-cop Derek Chauvin more than a year ago.
The statue depicts Floyd sitting casually at a bench, and was a gift by artist Stanley Watts to the city.
Per CBS News, Newark Mayor Ras J. Barak commented on the significance of the statue in a ceremony held on Wednesday, June 16, stating:
"All of the activity that took place around this country because of the untimely and vicious murder of George Floyd, and all the activism that sparked out of it, is worth us pausing and paying attention to."
Comparing Floyd's death to that of 14-year-old lynching victim Emmet Till's back in 1955, Barak added there was "no contemplation, no trepidation" when it came to his decision to install the statue outside city hall.
Meanwhile, Watts said: "The world needed a peaceful George. The world needed him relaxed and chilling on a bench and that's what we produced and we produced him larger than life.
"Because after death, George will be remembered; and that's what memorials are. It's to remember and never forget why we changed today and tomorrow and for the rest of our existence on this planet."
Floyd, a former security guard who lost his job as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, died at the hands of former cop Derek Chauvin, on May 25, 2020.
He was killed when local police officers were summoned to a grocery store in Powderhorn Park, Minneapolis, after the proprietor accused Floyd of using a counterfeit banknote to pay for his purchases.
Floyd was then handcuffed while lying face down in the street, with Chauvin placing his knee on the back of his neck for a total of nine minutes.
Footage recorded by a concerned bystander showed that Floyd repeatedly asked for help and pled for leniency from ground level, even stating audibly "I can't breathe" more than 20 times, before suffocating.
When the video of the incident emerged online, Floyd's treatment sparked a wave of protests across America and the entire world over the issues of police brutality and racial profiling.
Chauvin was later found guilty in April 2021 of three counts of second-degree unintentional murder, third-degree murder, and second-degree manslaughter, for his part in Floyd's death.
NBC News reports that Senators Cory Booker and Tim Scott, as well as Representative Karen Bass, are currently spearheading the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act - aimed at ending the use of potentially dangerous police techniques.
It also seeks to improve police training and invest in community programs designed to improve police work, eliminate bias and discrimination, and promote more equitable policies.