MINNEAPOLIS — Police reform and civil-rights activists joined thousands of ordinary people in the United States on Sunday to mark the fifth anniversary of George Floyd's murder and decry the Trump administration for actions they say set their efforts back decades.

Floyd's deadly arrest on May 25, 2020 helped launch the Black Lives Matter movement, or BLM, into a powerful force that sought to resolve deeply rooted racial issues in the US, from police violence to systemic inequality.

But since Trump's return to power in January — he was serving his first term when Floyd died — his administration has axed civil rights investigations and cracked down on diversity hiring initiatives.

BLM, meanwhile, finds itself lacking the support it enjoyed when protesters sprawled across US cities and abroad during the COVID pandemic, with many now agreeing the movement achieved little of substance.

Some Democratic politicians, as well as UN rights chief Volker Turk, commemorated the anniversary on Sunday.

"As anti-racism, inclusion efforts & law enforcement reforms face serious setbacks, we must continue advocating for racial justice & equality globally — with greater determination & strength," Turk wrote on X.

A memorial event was held during the weekend at what has been named George Floyd Square, the area of Minneapolis where the 46-year-old took his final breath as police officer Derek Chauvin knelt on his neck during an arrest.

Dozens of people on Sunday visited the small junction set in a residential part of the northern US city, which is covered with protest art, including a purple mural that reads "You Changed the World, George".

Optimism gone

That optimistic message painted in 2020 is now, however, at odds with a president whose more extreme allies have suggested he pardon Chauvin, who was convicted of murdering Floyd and sentenced to more than 22 years in prison.

Floyd's family members told Agence France-Presse on Friday that they wanted people to continue pushing for reform despite the hostile political climate.

"We don't need an executive order to tell us that Black lives matter," said his aunt Angela Harrelson, who wore a dark T-shirt depicting Floyd's face.

"We cannot let a setback be a holdback for the great comeback," she added.

Protests marking Floyd's death have also been planned in a handful of other US cities, including Chicago and Dallas, but no major rallies were expected.

In Minneapolis, some people cried and others laid flowers or stuffed animals by the roadside spot where Floyd's fatal arrest was filmed and shared around the world.

"George Floyd may be resting in peace and power, but he's alive through everyone that shows up here," W.D. Foster-Graham, an author who grew up in the same neighborhood, told AFP on Sunday.

"It can be very easy to forget, but as one person to another, make sure we never forget and let those powers that be know we haven't forgotten, and we're not going away," the 73-year-old added.

Memorial events have been held annually since Floyd's death and the theme for this one — "The People Have Spoken" — was suggested by Nelson Mandela's grandson Nkosi when he visited the square, according to Floyd's aunt Harrelson.

She said the defiant title was meant to reflect five years of protesting, adding that "even though it's tiresome, we go on".

Agencies Via Xinhua