CHICAGO — Sunday marked five years since the murder of George Floyd in police custody.
The case led to protests around the world, including in Chicago, but many experts say the calls for change have since stalled.
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The tragic death of George Floyd in 2020 sparked a worldwide movement calling for police reform. Views on the progress achieved so far seem to differ, with some acknowledging positive changes while others perceive a regression in the right direction.
It’s been five years since the world stopped to chant his name.
“Many of us believed that this incident would mark the start of a significant and transformative movement in our nation… Unfortunately, [it did not], not in the least,” expressed Ernest Crim III, a respected producer, educator, and author.
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But now, questions are mounting on whether or not those protests and rallying cries made a lasting difference.
“After the videos of George Floyd’s death surfaced, the public could witness the event collectively, leaving no room for excuses or distractions,” shared Aislinn Pulley, the founder of the Black Lives Matter Chicago chapter.
The pressure was high in 2020.
According to Google trends, interest in “George Floyd” spiked in the days following his death, reaching a peak the following week. The surge came with mass protests and heightened conversations around police brutality, systemic racism and social justice.
But a new 2025 report by the National Urban League shows that interest has faded.
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“Let’s say it’s December 2019, and we have the death of George Floyd, do you think you would have seen the same level of care that we did?” ABC7 asked.
“No, and we know that we wouldn’t have, because we had very similar murders happen so he wasn’t the first,” Pulley replied. “It just happened at this very unique time where there wasn’t an ability to look away.”
“We saw what happened with several other people, Tamir Rice and Trayvon Martin, Mike Brown,” Crim III said. “It’s not trendy anymore, right? Like, they don’t have to live with this.”
Just this week, the Department of Justice said it’s moving to drop police consent decrees in Louisville, Kentucky, and Minneapolis. Those agreements coming after investigations into the police killings of Breonna Taylor and George Floyd.
That announcement did not impact Chicago, where a consent decree between the city and the state of Illinois was sparked by the 2014 murder of Laquan McDonald.
“Because the state attorney general stepped when the United States attorney general of the Department of Justice withdrew previously, people can recognize that there is a pathway for reform that remains here in Chicago,” said Edwin Yohnka with the Illinois ACLU. “We have reservations about how that process is working.”
In a statement to ABC7, CPD wrote in part, “The Chicago Police Department has implemented significant reforms since 2020 that further our commitment to fair and constitutional policing. These reforms, which aim to build greater trust in our communities, include instituting 40 hours of mandatory annual training for all officers, as well as significant policy updates that inform this training.”
Their training was showcased during the 2024 Democratic National Convention, which was praised by the secret service.
But for those like Black history educator Crim III, the efforts haven’t been enough to stop history from repeating itself.
“If you Black, and you living in a Black community… you’ve been inundated with so much trauma since then, you can’t even think about five years since five days ago, it happens,” Crim III said.
“How do you get to a point where it’s not you versus me, but more so us together, moving forward towards the same thing?” ABC7 asked.
“The way that we got the Civil Rights Act passed was through massive consistent organizing over a 10-year period,” Pulley said. “It was not as a result of a summer of uprising.”
“We need to be here for the long run, not just for summer,” Crim III said. “It’s something inside of you that is burns like ultimately, you just want all of humanity to do better.”
There are several organizations working to continue the mission of better police-community relations and restore healing to communities of color. Chicago police also have regular events to connect with the public.
CPD’s community engagement calendar can be found here.
More resources:
Equality and Transformation Chicago
Chicago Torture Justice Center
“How Black History Can Save Your Life: From the Talk to George Floyd, Everything You Need to Know to Deescalate a Racist Situation” by Ernest Crim III
