George Floyd was remembered during a memorial service on Thursday, June 4.
The gathering was held in Minneapolis, Minnesota, at the Frank J. Lindquist Sanctuary at North Central University. Rev. Jerry McAfee read a bible scripture, while a prayer was led by Dr. Scott Hagen, the president of North Central University. Meanwhile, singer Liwana Porter performed “Amazing Grace” before the crowd.
Kevin Hart, Ludacris, Martin Luther King III, Minnesota senator Amy Klobuchar, Rev. Al Sharpton, Jesse Jackson and Master P. were among those in attendance.
Hoke County Sheriff Hubert Peterkin confirmed on Tuesday, June 2, that Floyd will be honored in another service held at the Cape Fear Conference B Headquarters in Raeford, North Carolina, on Saturday, June 6. The funeral will begin with a public viewing from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., followed by a private service for family only starting at 3 p.m. All attendees are asked to wear face masks and refrain from protesting.
“As the Sheriff of Hoke County, I’m asking on behalf of the Floyd family for those who plan on attending the viewing to be respectful to the sensitivity of the family’s time of grief,” Peterkin wrote via Facebook. “The memorial is about the life that Mr. George Floyd lived and this is a time to embrace the family with expressions of love and kindness.”
A third service will commence in Houston, Texas, on Monday, June 8, at The Fountain of Praise Church. CNN affiliate WRAL reported that a fourth and final memorial will occur at an undisclosed location the next day.
Floyd died on May 25 after Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin pressed his knee into his neck for nearly nine minutes. His cause of death was confirmed to be “asphyxiation from sustained pressure,” according to a private autopsy.
Chauvin, 44, was fired by the Minneapolis Police Department. He remains in jail on second-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter charges.
The mother of Floyd’s 6-year-old daughter, Gianna, publicly addressed his death in a Good Morning America interview that aired before Thursday’s memorial. “I want justice for him, ‘cause he was good,” Roxie Washington said on Wednesday, June 3. “No matter what anybody thinks, he was good. And this is the proof that he was a good man.”
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