Five years after the murder of George Floyd by police officer Derek Chauvin who knelt on his neck for nine minutes, some advocates for police reform are feeling discouraged.

Despite worldwide protests that followed Floyd’s murder, US Congress never passed legislation aimed at reducing racial profiling and the use of force by police.

“To say that nothing’s changed is not true, but I have to give a little bit of deference to people who are not very encouraged by the rate of change, because the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act has not passed through Congress,” said Keith Ellison, Minnesota Attorney General.

Ellison served as a special prosecutor in the trial of Chauvin who was sentenced to 22-1/2 years in prison after being convicted of murdering Floyd in a state trial.

On Wednesday, the US Justice Department dismissed police reform and oversight agreements in Minneapolis and Louisville, where Floyd and Breonna Taylor – who was shot to death by Louisville police executing a no-knock warrant – were killed.

“We got people who are in the national police scene who are for reform… they all know that trust is the key to a safer community and they’re not going to stop no matter what Trump does,” Ellison added.

But police reform advocates pledged to intensify their efforts at the local level after Wednesday’s decision which withdraws lawsuits against police departments where officers have killed unarmed Black people.