Biden says Summer 2020—featuring George Floyd riots—was 'historic movement for justice'

During a Monday campaign speech in South Carolina, Joe Biden said that the summer of 2020, which saw riots across the nation in the wake of the death of George Floyd, was a "historic movement for justice."

"After the historic movement for justice in the summer of 2020, I signed the most significant police reform executive order in history," he told the crowd.

Biden signed the executive order in May of 2022, two years after the death of George Floyd sparked riots across the US that resulted in billions of dollars in destruction, that created a national database of police misconduct, bans the use of chokeholds unless deadly force is authorized, requires de-escalation policies, restricts the transfer of military equipment, and more. 

George Floyd died on May 25, 2020, in Minneapolis. In the days, weeks, and months that followed, protests in the area spread into riots across the nation.

The Insurance Information Institute revealed in the fall of 2020 that property damage claims from the riots had likely surpassed $2 billion, making them the costliest riots in US history.

The Foundation for Economic Education suggested that this total was likely higher, as the $2 billion figure looked only at insured businesses, and 75 percent of businesses are underinsured. Around 40 percent of small businesses have no insurance.

Meanwhile, American cities have been ordered to give more than $68 million to rioters who are said to have suffered injury or infringements on their rights.