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George Floyd to be laid to rest in a grave next to his mother’s today
Floyd’s body was taken to Houston for day-long viewing on Monday after similar viewings in Minneapolis, where he was killed two weeks ago, and North Carolina.
George Floyd, whose death under the knee of a police officer sparked countrywide protests forcing the United States to confront persisting racial inequities once again, will be laid to rest in a grave next to his mother’s at a private funeral in Houston, his hometown, on Tuesday.
Floyd’s body was taken to Houston for day-long viewing on Monday after similar viewings in Minneapolis - where he was killed two weeks ago and North Carolina.
Floyd’s family was to be joined at the funeral service by families of other African American victims of police actions, such Eric Garner of New York (2014), Breana Taylor of Texas (2020) and Michael Brown of Missouri (2014).
Joe Biden, the former vice-president and the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, met with the family on Monday.
Floyd Mayweather, the boxing legend, is paying for the funeral services, the Floyd family has said.
Floyd’s last words — “I can’t breathe” — became a rallying cry for antiracism protestors in the United States and around the world in London, Paris, Berlin, Rio de Janeiro, Japan, Sweden, Australia, New Zealand, Kenya, Zimbabwe, South Africa, despite the deadly Covid-19 pandemic.
Protests have continued int he United States, but first steps are also being taken towards addressing the problem of continuing racism in US law enforcement.
Congressional Democrats introduced a sweeping legislation on Monday to ban the use of chokeholds, a technique officers are known to use to subdue suspects, end no-knock warrants and create a national data base of police misconduct to prevent tainted officers from finding employment elsewhere.
Demand has been growing also for curtailing police funding and powers and in the most consequential of moves yet, the city council of Minneapolis has vowed to disband the Minneapolis Police Department and replace it with community-based safety model, details of which remain sketchy.
President Donald Trump has defended the police saying “99.9%” of them are “great, great people” and went on question the motives of a 75-year-old demonstrator pushed to the ground and left bleeding by officers in Buffalo.
He assured law enforcement representatives from across the country at a roundtable Monday there “won’t be defunding, there won’t be dismantling of our police”.
The president conceded there are some “bad actors” among the police and “sometimes you’ll see some horrible things, like we witnessed recently” referring to the Floyd killing” but offered a broad defense saying “99 -- I say 99.9, but let’s go with 99 percent of them are great, great people”.
On Tuesday morning, he tweeted in defense of the police of Buffalo, New York, where two officers have been fired and charged for pushing a 75-year-old man to the ground and left him bleeding on the ground. “Buffalo protester shoved by Police could be an ANTIFA provocateur,” the president tweeted, claiming he “was pushed away after appearing to scan police communications in order to black out the equipment”.
The president presented no evidence to back that up and said “I watched, he fell harder than was pushed. Was aiming scanner. Could be a set up?” sparking another round of outrage.
