Ivanka Trump, VP Pence Visit George Floyd's City For 'Law And Order' Campaign

Vice President Mike Pence and Ivanka Trump are expected to visit Minneapolis on Thursday to deliver President Donald Trump’s law-and-order message and show their support for law enforcement in the city where a Black man’s death sparked protests worldwide.

According to a report by the Associated Press, Pence and the president’s daughter plan to host a listening session with a “Cops for Trump” group. They are also planning to include locals who were “negatively affected by the violent extremism” that followed Floyd's death at the hands of police officers.

The visit comes weeks after President Trump sat down with the owners of small businesses in Minneapolis that were damaged in the violent demonstrations that erupted after Floyd’s death.

However, the president did not visit the site where local police officers pinned Floyd down for allegedly passing a counterfeit bill at a convenience store. Pence and Ivanka Trump are not expected to visit the site either.

The campaign aims to put Minnesota in play after President Trump narrowly lost the state to Hillary Clinton in the 2016 election. While the law-and-order message hopes to drive up a turnout in rural areas, some locals view the strategy as divisive and damaging.

Paul Eaves, a 72-year-old resident of Minneapolis, called the president a vile politician. He regularly tends to the artwork and flowers left at the intersection that has become a memorial to the late 46-year-old Floyd.

“Hate and fear are good for getting votes, but it’s not good for governing,” Eaves said.

Floyd died while police officers were attempting to arrest him outside a shop in Minneapolis on May 25. Footage of white police officer Derek Chauvin kneeling on Floyd's neck while he begged for his life sparked outrage around the world.

According to the prosecutors’ report, Chauvin kept his knee on Floyd’s neck for nearly eight minutes, BBC reported. Transcripts of the bodycam footage from the other officers present at the scene showed that the victim pleaded for his mother. At one point, he also told Chauvin: “You’re going to kill me, man.”

Floyd became non-responsive six minutes after Chauvin knelt on his neck. However, the officer did not remove his knee until emergency responders rolled the victim on to a gurney and transported him to the Hennepin County Medical Center. Doctors pronounced him dead an hour later.