The Crusader Newspaper Group

George Floyd laid to rest after weeks of mourning

By Crusader Staff Report

George Floyd was laid to rest in Houston Tuesday, June 8 after his life was celebrated at a funeral that capped weeks of mourning and nationwide protests as a white police officer remains behind bars, charged with murder.

Floyd was buried next to his mother at Houston Memorial Gardens. His gold casket was carried by a horse-driven carriage as hundreds of people lined the procession route. One day before he was laid to rest, at the Fountain Praise Church, about 6,000 people, including Blacks, whites, young and senior mourners viewed his body which was dressed in a brown suit during a public viewing.

Many wore T-shirts that said “Black Lives Matter” and “I can’t breathe.”

The next day, Reverend Al Sharpton led a six-hour service at the church that was livestreamed online. Entertainers Jamie Foxx and Channing Tatum were among a packed room of mourners. Hip Hop singer Ne Yo sang “It’s so hard to say goodbye to yesterday.”

Gospel singer Dray Tate sang Sam Cooke’s 1964 hit “A Change Is Gonna Come” as portraits of Floyd flanked the pulpit.

During his eulogy, Sharpton asked the relatives of Trayvon Martin, Michael Brown and Ahmaud Arbery to stand in support of the George Floyd family, saying “They know better than anyone else the pain they will suffer.”

“We must commit to this family and all these families. Until these people pay for what they did, we’re going to be there with them because lives like George’s will not matter until someone pays the price.”

Sharpton said that more marches have been held across the United States and around the world, including Germany and England.

At the center of the service was Floyd’s glistening gold casket that had traveled three states for three memorial services that allowed thousands of mourners to pay their final respects to the 46-year-old Black man.

Former Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr., the presumptive Democratic nominee for president, released a video tribute to Floyd’s life. In it, Biden offered his condolences to the family, saying that grieving in public was a burden — “a burden that is now your purpose, to change the world for the better.”

Biden did not attend the funeral in person “out of concern his Secret Service detail would create a disruption.” He met with the Floyd family privately Monday.

Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner and U.S. Representatives Al Green and Sheila Jackson Lee, also spoke at Floyd’s funeral on Tuesday.

Donations continue to pour in for Floyd’s family. As of Tuesday, nearly $14 million was donated by some 495,000 donors to the family’s GoFundMe campaign.

Floyd died May 25 after Minneapolis Officer Derek Chauvin pressed his knee into Floyd’s neck, causing him to say, “I can’t breathe” as three officers stood by. A bystander captured the incident on video, which went viral after it was posted on social media. All four officers were fired from the force. Protests erupted in Minneapolis and in cities across the globe before Chauvin was arrested and charged with third-degree murder. Those charges were upgraded last week to second-degree murder. The remaining three officers were charged with second-degree aiding and abetting murder. All four officers remain in jail.

A judge set Chauvin’s bail at $1 million with conditions. That means he is eligible for supervised released. He could also be released without conditions at a higher bail amount of $1.25 million.

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