George Floyd friend, NAACP weigh in on Chauvin trial while rallying for Black votes

HOUSTON - Close friends of George Floyd are weighing in on the Derek Chauvin trial as some went out to a "Black Votes Matter" rally in Houston Tuesday.

Travis Cains was a close friend of George Floyd who was like a brother to him growing up. He says with the trial underway, nothing has changed in his feelings about this case.

"There’s no difference," said Cains. "It was unjustly done. It was a public lynching. I just feel like we are still waiting, and we just want justice, point blank period."

Cains grew up with George Floyd, even living together in their teens. Now he’s advocating for the passage of the "George Floyd Act," House Bill 88 to implement police reforms, and he’s watching the trial of the man charged with killing George Floyd closely.

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"It’s a sad day in America right now with the way that they’re portraying him for having this type of drug and everything in his system, trying to put him down," said Cains. "It’s hard."

Through the loss and sadness, he is grateful for the change coming in the months since the death of his close friend.

"He’s a sacrificial lamb, and it’s hard," said Cains. "It hurts, but as I say, he was God-sent."

Cains spent Tuesday afternoon at a "Black Votes Matter" rally with Brazoria County NAACP President Eugene Howard, whose mind was also on George Floyd and the trial of Derek Chauvin.

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"A lot of people are trying to put George Floyd’s character on trial," said Howard. "Mr. Floyd is entombed in Pearland in Brazoria County, so he can’t go on trial. Right now, the trial is about that officer that murdered George Floyd, honestly, when he knelt on his neck for eight minutes and 46 seconds."

Rapper Trae tha Truth, who knew George Floyd in the music industry, joined the rally, and Floyd’s fellow Yates High School alumni joined too.