Houston [US], June 10 (ANI): Around two weeks after his death in police custody sparked worldwide campaign against racism, the funeral of George Floyd, was held on Tuesday (local time).
A horse-drawn carriage brought George Floyd‘s body to a Houston area cemetery where he was laid to rest in a private ceremony, reported Sputnik.
According to the report, when a long cavalcade of cars and buses led by a horse carriage with a casket approached the cemetery, people started chanting “George Floyd,” “I can’t breathe,” “Keep your knee off my neck.”
The death of George Floyd on May 25 has sparked a worldwide movement against police brutality, racism and social injustice, as a video showing a white police officer, Derek Chauvin, kneeling on Floyd’s neck after the latter had been arrested, was widely circulated online on the next day.
Hundreds of people came to say a final goodbye to Floyd at the Fountain of Praise Church, reported Xinhua.
Former Vice-President Joe Biden sent his condolences through video. “You’re so brave… No child should have to ask questions that too many black children have had to ask for generations: Why? Why’s daddy gone?” Biden was quoted as saying to Gianna, Floyd’s six-year-old daughter.
As per the report, Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner announced at the funeral that he will sign an executive order banning the city police from using chokeholds and strangleholds.
George Floyd’s brother urges US Congress to hold police accountable for wrongdoing
US Congress must hold police forces accountable for wrongdoing and get them to treat people with respect, George Floyd‘s brother told the House Judiciary Committee on Wednesday.
“Make the necessary changes that make law enforcement the solution and not the problem,” Philonise Floyd said. “Hold them accountable when they do something wrong. Teach them what it means to treat people with empathy and respect … Teach them deadly force should be used rarely and only when life is at risk.”
He said his brother was not hurting anyone on May 25, the day George died in police custody. George, he added, did not deserve to die over the $20 counterfeit bill he allegedly tried to use that day.
“I am asking you: Is that what a black man’s life is worth? $20? This is 2020. Enough is enough,” he added.
On May 25, George Floyd, a 46-year-old African-American, was pronounced dead at a Minneapolis, Minnesota hospital shortly after a white police officer knelt on his neck for eight minutes and 46 seconds. Viral video of the incident sparked nationwide protests. The county medical examiner ruled his death a homicide and the officer involved, Derek Chauvin, has been charged with second-degree murder. (Sputnik/ANI)
