George Floyd family marks six years as Minneapolis plans Square construction
George Floyd's family marked the six-year anniversary of his death on May 25, 2026, as Minneapolis prepared to begin construction on a new flexible open-street design at George Floyd Square. Selwyn Jones said not enough has changed when he walked the site with FOX 9 on Sunday.
Monday marked six years since Floyd was killed at 38th and Chicago, the exact date of his death for the first time on the calendar. Jones said he kept coming back to “the nine minutes and 29 seconds” because it “impacted the whole world.”
Jones at George Floyd Square
Jones, Floyd's uncle, walked George Floyd Square with FOX 9 and tied the anniversary to the family’s sense that the response since May 25, 2020 has fallen short. He said, “Not enough change, but as long as we keep fighting, as long as this event keeps happening, yes, and showing unity,” and added, “People have their thoughts about who he was and what he was, and I always come back to the nine minutes and 29 seconds, because the nine minutes and 29 seconds is what impacted the whole world.”
He also described watching the killing unfold on television, saying, “I was sitting in front of a television watching this, this black man getting assaulted by the police, and me not knowing who it was, and my sister, you know, called me, and she said, Did you see what they did to Perry?” Floyd died in an incident involving former Minneapolis Police Officer Derek Chauvin.
Angela Harrelson on Monday
Angela Harrelson spoke with FOX 9 about what the anniversary means inside the family. “Now Monday is going to take me back to where I was that day, who I was talking to that day, what was going on around me that day,” she said.
Harrelson said she wants George Floyd Square to remain “as sacred as I can get it without over commercializing it,” while also leaving room for businesses. She said, “I wanted a pedestrian plaza, you know, I wanted to be as sacred as I can get it without over commercializing it, you know, I don't want to leave out the opportunities for the businesses and what they want, but you can't over commercialize that memorial.”
George Floyd Square plans
The city was set to begin construction on a new flexible open-street design at George Floyd Square after the anniversary. Harrelson said the standard for change would be a point where “we don't have to say the words Black Lives Matter, then that's when we know we have arrived.”
The anniversary keeps George Floyd Square at the center of remembrance and public attention, but the next step is the city work planned for the site after May 25, 2026. For families still marking the date, the square remains both a memorial and a place where the shape of the next phase is about to change.
