Hundreds of mourners packed a Houston church Tuesday for the funeral of George Floyd, the black man whose death has inspired a worldwide reckoning over racial injustice.
Floyd’s death became the impetus for a massive nationwide protest that have called for reforms to criminal justice and policing. Mourners at his funeral declared that he would not die in vain.
“He changed the world,” Rep. Al Green, D-Texas, said. “George Floyd changed the world. And we're gonna make the world know that he made a difference.”
Floyd was 46 when he was killed May 25 as a white Minneapolis officer pressed a knee on Floyd’s neck as the dying man cried out for his mother.
Floyd’s death sparked international protests and drew new attention to police treatment of African Americans in the U.S. Some 6,000 people attended a public memorial service Monday.
"America, it is time for a change. Even if it should begin with more protests. No Justice, No Peace,” Brooke Williams, George Floyd's Niece, declared.
Former Vice President and presidential candidate Joe Biden filmed a video message for those gathered at Floyd’s funeral.
“We can't turn away. We must not turn away,” Biden said. “We cannot leave this moment thinking we can once again turn away from racism, it stings at our very soul. From systemic abuse that still plagues American life. As Thurgood Marshall once implored, 'America must ascend from indifference, it must ascend from fear, the hatred, and misstrust.”
