Family, friends, and people who never knew him filed into the pews of the Fountain of Praise Church in Houston Tuesday for the funeral of George Floyd — the African American man whose death while in the custody of white Minneapolis police lit the fuse of protests against racism around the world.
A line of Houston police officers stood by while Floyd’s gold coffin was wheeled into the church.
“George Floyd was not expendable. This is why we’re here,” Democratic Congressman Al Green of Houston told the crowd. "His crime was that he was born black. That was his only crime. George Floyd deserved the dignity and respect that we accord all people just because they are children of a common God.”
Philonise Floyd, brother, of George Floyd pauses at the casket during a funeral service for Floyd at The Fountain of Praise church, June 9, 2020, in Houston.
Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden, who met with Floyd’s family Monday, taped a eulogy played at the funeral.
"No child should have to ask questions that too many black children have had to ask for generations: Why? Now is the time for racial justice. That is the answer we must give to our children when they ask why,” Biden said.
Award-winning singer Ne-Yo performed, saying Floyd “changed the world.”
And like many funerals, there were some light moments. His aunt, Kathleen McGee, chuckled as she remember Floyd as a child, recalling him to be a “pesky little rascal, but we loved him.”
Floyd’s casket is being taken by a horse-drawn carriage to the Houston suburb of Pearland, where he will be buried next to his mother.
Hundreds are enduring the legendary Texas sun and heat, lining the streets between the church and cemetery.
Police officers walk next to the horse-drawn carriage carrying the casket containing the body of George Floyd to Houston Memorial Gardens cemetery in Pearland, Texas, June 9, 2020.
Floyd died May 25 after Minneapolis police arrested him on suspicion of spending a counterfeit $20 bill in a food store.
A white police officer, Derek Chauvin, kept his knee on Floyd’s neck for nearly nine minutes even after Floyd said he couldn’t breathe.
Chauvin has been charged with second-degree murder. Three other offices who were on duty were charged with aiding and abetting.
Floyd’s death set off protests across the U.S. and in several major European cities against racism and perceived police brutality against black men.
A mourner adjusts his protective face mask as he waits for the funeral for George Floyd at the Houston Memorial Gardens cemetery in Pearland, Texas, June 9, 2020.
Many of those marches turned violent, prompting governors to deploy the National Guard to restore order.
There are also calls for cities to defund police departments. The Minneapolis city council overwhelmingly backs such plan in the face of opposition by Mayor Jacob Frey.
Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner announced he will sign an executive order that bans chokeholds in the city.
In California, Governor Gavin Newsom ordered the state’s police training program to stop teaching chokeholds.
Denver’s police chief has also banned chokeholds and Washington Seattle Governor Jay Inslee says he wants to make it mandatory for police officers to report bad behavior by other officers and not just stand by while an atrocity may be committed.