Minneapolis - Prominent civil rights
activist the Rev. Al Sharpton told mourners on Thursday George
Floyd's fatal encounter with police and the nationwide protests
his death ignited marked a reckoning for America over race and
justice, demanding, "Get your knee off our necks."
Memorial tributes to Floyd in Minneapolis, where he was
killed on May 25, and in New York City's borough of Brooklyn, a
major flashpoint for demonstrations stirred by his death, came
as protesters returned to the streets of several U.S. cities for
a 10th straight day, including Atlanta, Washington D.C., Denver,
Detroit and Los Angeles.
The gatherings, while boisterous at times, were for the most
part orderly, in contrast to several previous nights punctuated
by sporadic arson, looting and clashes between protesters and
police.
The change in mood reflected a determination voiced by many
protesters and organizers in recent days to transform outrage
over Floyd's death into a renewed civil rights movement, seeking
reforms to America's criminal justice system.
"This is a very seismic moment, and someday I'm going to
have a kid, and he or she or they are going to ask me what I did
during the uprising of 2020, during the American spring," said
Nana Mensah, a writer in her 30s from Brooklyn.
Protesters take a knee on Flatbush Avenue in front of New York City police officers during a solidarity rally for George Floyd in the Brooklyn borough of New York. Picture: Frank Franklin II/AP
She held a sign that read: "You're lucky we just want
equality and not revenge."
In the nation's capital, hundreds if not thousands assembled
for a rally at the Lincoln Memorial, many sitting on the ground
listening to speakers and chanting, "Say his name - George
Floyd," before an evening thunderstorm dispersed the crowd.
Another group of protesters congregated near the White
House, where construction workers erected concrete barriers and
fences around the presidential residence.
Two Buffalo, New York, police officers were suspended after
a video showed them shoving a 75-year-old man to the ground as
he approached police lines. The man was taken to hospital where
he was in a stable but serious condition.
George Floyd's casket is carried to a hearse after a memorial service for Floyd at North Central University in Minneapolis. Floyd died after being restrained by Minneapolis police officers on May 25. Picture: Bebeto Matthew/AP
'STAND UP'
Delivering the eulogy at a memorial service inside a
university chapel in Minneapolis, Sharpton said Floyd's fate -
dying at the hands of police, pinned to the ground under the
knee of a white officer - symbolized a universal experience of
police brutality for African Americans.
"George Floyd should not be among the deceased. He did not
die of common health conditions. He died of a common American
criminal justice malfunction," Sharpton said. "It's time for us
to stand up in George's name and say, 'Get your knee off our
necks.'"
Sharpton led mourners in eight minutes and 46 seconds of
silence, the amount of time Floyd lay on a Minneapolis street
with a knee pressed into his neck.
George Floyd's brother Philonise Floyd, far right, and cousin Shareeduh Tate, second from right, share their memories of Floyd at a memorial service at North Central University. Picture: Bebeto Matthews/AP
In addition to hundreds who gathered inside the North
Central University chapel, a crowd of hundreds listened to the
service over loudspeakers outside.
One was Zsa-Vona Williams, 36, who knew Floyd from his days
working at the homeless shelter where she once lived, recalling
him as a caring, friendly soul.
"He gave to and fed a lot of people. He was a gentle,
peaceful person," Williams said.
The prayer service, which drew comic actors Kevin Hart and
Tiffany Haddish as well as U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar of
Minnesota, coincided with a separate outdoor memorial tribute to
Floyd in Brooklyn.
Justin Diamond, centre, the fiancé of George Floyd reacts after a memorial service for Floyd at North Central University in Minneapolis. Picture: Julio Cortez/AP
The day of remembrance capped more than a week of largely
peaceful protests, accompanied by civil unrest that prompted
dozens of cities to impose overnight curfews and the
mobilization of the National Guard in several states.
The size of the disturbances seemed to ebb after prosecutors
in Minneapolis on Wednesday elevated murder charges against one
police officer jailed last week in Floyd's May 25 death and
arrested three others accused of aiding and abetting the first.
Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey kneels by the casket of George Floyd before a memorial service at North Central University. Picture: Bebeto Matthews/AP
EX-COPS IN COURT
On Thursday, the three newly arrested officers made their
first appearance in court and were ordered to remain held on
$750,000 bond each.
Their principal co-defendant, Derek Chauvin, 44, is slated
to appear for his bond hearing on Monday. Chauvin is the officer
seen in video footage kneeling on Floyd's neck as Floyd gasped
for air and groaned, "I can't breathe," before passing out.
The four former officers, all dismissed from the Minneapolis
police department the day after Floyd died, each faces a maximum
sentence of 40 years in prison if convicted of the most serious
charges.
Floyd, a Houston native who had worked security at
nightclubs, was unarmed when taken into custody outside a corner
market where an employee had reported that a man matching his
description tried to pay for cigarettes with a counterfeit bill.
His brother, Terrence Floyd, joined an outdoor memorial on
Thursday in Brooklyn where many in the crowd knelt in a symbol
of protest and chanted, "No justice, no peace."
He urged the crowd to continue to seek justice but to avoid
violence, saying, "My brother wasn't about that."
New York Mayor Bill de Blasio took the stage to pledge that
Floyd's death would lead to substantive changes in police
practices in the nation's largest city.
A string of memorial services for Floyd were expected to
stretch across six days and three states. A funeral was planned
for Tuesday.