Floyd's body brought to Houston for burial
Members of the Texas Southern University Police Department pause at the casket bearing the remains of George Floyd in the chapel during his funeral service in Houston on Tuesday.
George Floyd’s body arrived at a Houston church on Tuesday for a private funeral, to be followed by burial, capping six days of mourning for the black man whose death inspired a global reckoning over police brutality and racial injustice.
Floyd, 46, was to be laid to rest next to his mother in the suburb of Pearland. He cried out for her as a white Minneapolis police officer pressed a knee on his neck May 25.
Floyd, a bouncer who had lost his job because of the coronavirus outbreak, was seized by police after being accused of passing a counterfeit US$20 bill at a convenience store.
Cellphone video of the encounter ignited protests and scattered violence in cities across the US and around the world.
While the service was private, at least 50 people gathered outside the Fountain of Praise church to pay their respects.
“There’s a real big change going on and everybody, especially black, right now should be a part of that,” said Kersey Biagase, who traveled more than three hours from Port Barre, Louisiana, with his girlfriend, Brandi Pickney.
The couple wore matching T-shirts she designed, printed with Floyd’s name and “I Can’t Breathe,” the words he uttered before his death.
Several police officers from Texas Southern University stood guard at the sanctuary entrance, wearing face masks printed with Floyd’s dying words. The historically black school is next to the Houston housing project where Floyd grew up.
Over the past six days, memorials for Floyd were held in Minneapolis, where he lived in recent years, and Raeford, North Carolina, near where he was born. The services have drawn the families of other black victims whose names have become part of the debate over race — among them Eric Garner, Michael Brown, Ahmaud Arbery and Trayvon Martin.
About 6,000 people attended a public memorial on Monday in Houston, waiting for hours under baking sun to pay their respects to Floyd, whose body lay in an open gold-colored casket.
“I’ve been stopped by police. I understand the situation. I can only imagine,” said 39-year-old Daniel Osarobo, a Houston resident and immigrant from Nigeria who works as an engineer in the oil and gas industry. “What if it was me? What if it was my brother? What if it was my sister? What if it was my son?”
Floyd’s death drew new attention to the treatment of African Americans in the US by police and the criminal justice system.
On Monday in Washington, Democratic lawmakers knelt in silent tribute to Floyd before unveiling a package of police reforms. The congressional move came a day after the Minneapolis authorities pledged to dismantle and rebuild the police department.
The Justice in Policing Act, introduced in both chambers of Congress, would make it easier to prosecute officers for abuse, and rethink how they are recruited and trained.
Some US cities have already begun to embrace reforms — starting with bans on the use of tear gas and rubber bullets.
But it is unclear what support the reform bill might find in the Republican-controlled Senate — or whether President Donald Trump would sign such legislation into law.
While condemning Floyd’s death, Trump has adopted a tough approach to putting down the protests and he once again voiced his support for police at a roundtable on law enforcement on Monday.
Trump has accused “radical left Democrats” of seeking to “defund the police.”
