George Floyd's brother Philonise Floyd testified at a House Judiciary Committee hearing on Wednesday.
During an opening statement at the hearing, which focused on police brutality and racist police practices, Philonise addressed the recent funeral services for his brother, whose murder at the hands of Minneapolis police spurred weeks of ongoing global protests.
"Thank you for the invitation here today to talk about my big brother George. … Yesterday, we laid him to rest," he said Wednesday. "It was the hardest thing I ever had to do. I'm the big brother now."
Philonise recalled the pain of watching footage of the murder, for which Derek Chauvin has since been charged with second-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter.
"He was all gentle giant," Philonise said. "I was reminded of that when I watched the video of his murder. He called all the officers 'sir.' He was mild-mannered. He didn't fight back. He listened to all the officers. The man who took his life, who suffocated him for eight minutes and 46 seconds, he still called him 'sir' as he begged for his life. I can't tell you the kind of pain you feel when you watch something like that. When you watch your big brother, who you looked up to your whole entire life, die. Die begging for his mom. I'm tired. I'm tired of pain."
Attorney Ben Crump, who's representing George Floyd's family, also spoke during Wednesday's hearing.
Below, watch video of the full hearing:
All four officers involved in the murder of George Floyd have been charged. Chauvin's aforementioned charges were followed later by aiding and abetting second-degree murder charges for officers J. Alexander Kueng, Thomas Lane, and Tou Thao.
An attorney representing Lane, as reported earlier this week, recently tried to throw blame for George Floyd's murder on the general public by suggesting citizens should have intervened. Those comments were swiftly criticized for their obvious ludicrousness.
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