George Floyd’s memorial service to be held in Minneapolis

Mourners have started gathering in Minneapolis for the first of a series of memorials for George Floyd, whose death at the hands of police has sparked turbulent protests around the world against racial injustice – as his family’s attorney says it will be a celebration of his life but also a plea to America not to let his death be in vain.  

The gold casket carrying Floyd’s body was taken to the North Central University in Minneapolis on Thursday ahead of the first of three services that will be held in the different cities over the next six days. 

His golden casket was flanked by white and purple flowers inside the university’s Lindquist Sanctuary where an image was also projected of a mural painted at the street corner where Floyd was pinned to the ground by police. While the sanctuary normally seats 1,000, the capacity has been reduced to about 500 due to COVID-19.  

Civil rights leader Reverend Al Sharpton and Floyd’s relatives will be among those addressing the memorial service.

Seats were reserved for actors and comedians Kevin Hart, Tiffany Haddish and Regina Hall; actor and producer Tyler Perry; Martin Luther King III; the Rev. Jesse Jackson; Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz; Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey; Rep. Ilhan Omar; Sen. Amy Klobuchar and others. 

Floyd’s death has empowered a national movement that has seen widespread demonstrations and civil strife in cities right across the United State to condemn racism and police abuses. 

Minneapolis Police Chief Medaria Arradondo, who fired all four police officers now charged in Floyd’s killing, took a knee nearby as his body arrived ahead of the service. 

Floyd’s Promethean casket is the same type of custom-made coffin that singers Aretha Franklin and James Brown were laid to rest in.  

In an interview with NBC’s Today at the site of the memorial, attorney Ben Crump said the Floyd family don’t want his death to be in vain. 

‘It’s going to be a celebration of life, but it’s also going to be a plea to America and a plea for justice that we don’t let his death be in vain,’ Crump said. 

‘We have a lot of high profile people coming. We want everybody to use their forces to say no more – we’re tired of dying at the hands of the people supposed to protect us.’  

It is the first of three memorial gatherings planned to honor Floyd’s life – the man whose name has been chanted by hundreds of thousands of people across the country. 

Floyd’s body will then travel to Raeford, North Carolina, where he was born 46 years ago, for a two-hour public viewing and private service for the family on Saturday. 

Finally, a public viewing will be held Monday in Houston, where he was raised and lived most of his life. A 500-person service on Tuesday will take place at The Fountain of Praise church and will include addresses from Sharpton, Crump, and the Rev. Remus E. Wright, the family pastor. 

Former Vice President Joe Biden, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, may attend, and other political figures and celebrities are expected as well.

The mother of Ahmaud Arbery, the black man who was shot dead by two white men while out running, will attend Floyd’s memorial in Houston, her attorney Lee Merritt told TMZ. 

A private burial will follow.  

Due to the coronavirus, Fountain of Praise will be limited to 20 percent of its capacity and visitors will be required to wear masks. 

The organizers of the memorials want to acknowledge the meaning Floyd had in life to his large family and the broader meaning he has assumed in death, which happened after a white officer pressed a knee into the handcuffed black man’s neck for several minutes even after he stopped moving and pleading for air. 

‘It would be inadequate if you did not regard the life and love and celebration the family wants,’ said the Rev. Al Sharpton, the civil rights leader who will eulogize Floyd in two cities. 

‘But it would also be inadequate… if you acted as though we’re at a funeral that happened under natural circumstances.  

‘The family is not independent of the community. The family wants to see something happen.’ 

Both the memorials in Minneapolis and Houston will include personal tributes and eulogies about social justice, Sharpton said.  

Floyd’s final journey was designed with intention, Sharpton said. Having left Houston for Minneapolis in 2014 in search of a job and a new life, Floyd will retrace that path.

‘They collectively said we need to make the first memorial statement from the city he chose to go to make a living, that ended his life,’ he said. 

The memorial services to honor Floyd are extraordinary but so are the circumstances surrounding them. 

Since his May 25 death in Minneapolis, Floyd’s name has been chanted by hundreds of thousands of people and empowered a movement. 

Violent encounters between police, protesters, and observers have inflamed a country already reeling from the coronavirus pandemic. 

Floyd’s memorial on Thursday will take place around the same time three Minneapolis police officers who were at the scene, but did not intervene, will face court for the first time. 

It comes as prosecutors on Wednesday leveled new criminal charges against all four policemen implicated in Floyd’s death after he was filmed being pinned by his neck to the street during an arrest. 

Derek Chauvin, who was jailed Friday on charges of third-degree murder and manslaughter, was newly charged with second-degree murder.

He was the white officer seen in widely circulated video footage kneeling on Floyd’s neck for nearly nine minutes as Floyd gasped for air and repeatedly groaned, ‘Please, I can’t breathe.’ 

Thomas Lane, J. Alexander Kueng and Tou Thao – the three fellow officers fired from the Minneapolis police department along with Chauvin the next day – were charged on Wednesday with aiding and abetting both second-degree murder and manslaughter. 

Floyd’s family attorney said his relatives were relieved to hear all four officers had been charged. 

‘They had a sense of relief… they were very thankful,’ Crump said. ‘George Floyd’s family and many others believe the charge should be first degree, however, we’re relieved (it’s been upgraded). 

Crump said he didn’t believe the additional charges would have been brought if it were not for the widespread protests over the past week.

‘I don’t think we would have seen those charges. There’s evidence for these charges. There’s always evidence for many of these cases when white police kill black people, they just never get charged,’ he said. 

Following the charges, demonstrations seen over the past week across the US remained large but turned notably more subdued. 

In many cities, demonstrators defying nighttime curfews have been met by police in riot gear firing tear gas, mace and rubber bullets to disperse unruly crowds. 

National Guard troops have been activated in several states to assist local law enforcement.