HOUSTON (Reuters) – Countless mourners braved sweltering Texas heat on Monday to see the coffin of George Floyd, whose death after a law enforcement officer knelt on his neck fired up worldwide protests versus the mistreatment of African Americans and other minorities by U.S. police.
American flags fluttered along the route to the Fountain of Appreciation church in Houston, where Floyd grew up, as throngs of mourners using face coverings to avoid spread of the coronavirus formed a procession to pay last respects.
Solemnly filing through the church in two parallel lines, some mourners bowed their heads, others made the indication of the cross or raised a fist, as they stopped briefly in front of Floyd’s open coffin. More than 6,300 individuals took part in the visitation, which ran for more than six hours, church authorities said.
Fire officials stated numerous people, apparently conquered by heat exhaustion while waiting in line, were required to medical facilities.
” I’m delighted he got the send-off he deserved,” Marcus Williams, a 46- year-old black local of Houston, said outside the church. “I want the authorities killings to stop. I desire them to reform the process to achieve justice, and stop the killing.”
The public viewing came two weeks to the day after Floyd’s death was caught by an onlooker’s video. As a white law enforcement officer knelt on his neck for almost 9 minutes, an unarmed and handcuffed Floyd, 46, lay face down on a Minneapolis street, gasping for air and groaning for assistance, before falling silent.
The case was similar to the 2014 killing of another African American, Eric Garner, who died after being put by police in a chokehold while under arrest in New York City.
The passing away words of both men, “I can’t breathe,” have become a rallying cry in a global profusion of rage, drawing crowds by the thousands to the streets in spite of health threats from the coronavirus pandemic.
The presentations stretched into a third week on Monday.
” Despite the fact that it is a risk to come out here, I think it has actually been a really favorable experience. You hear the stories, you feel the energy,” Benedict Chiu, 24, informed Re