Murphy signs legislation making Juneteenth state holiday

NEW JERSEY - New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy has signed legislation that makes Juneteenth a state holiday.

The Democratic governor signed the measure during an online ceremony Thursday night.

Juneteenth marks June 19, 1865, when word reached enslaved African Americans in Galveston, Texas, that the Civil War had ended and they were free. The legislation Murphy signed makes the third Friday in June a holiday.

The measure was approved in July by the state legislature amid worldwide protests and rallies for racial justice stemming from the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis. Floyd, who was black, died after a white police officer held him down with a knee on his neck.