Hundreds of mourners mostly dressed in all white and wearing face masks gathered in Raeford, North Carolina, on Saturday to celebrate the life of George Floyd, who died late month shortly after former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin was seen on video kneeling on Floyd’s neck.
Emotion-evoking gospel music saturated the air Saturday as loved ones paid tribute to “gentle giant” George Floyd in Raeford, North Carolina, near his hometown of Fayetteville.
Cries of “God bless your hearts!” and “Hallelujah!” echoed through Cape Fear Conference B Church in tribute to Floyd, 46, whose murder at the hands of a Minneapolis cop sparked global protests and calls for social justice and police reform.
The nearly three-hour service preached hope and joy, with a parade of eulogists declaring “God is on our side” and that Floyd “put love back into the world.”
But one family speaker noted, “Just like the coronavirus, police brutality has yet to find a cure.”
Hoke County Sheriff Hubert Peterkin told the attendees, “Don’t let the life of George Floyd be in vain. It’s become a sacrifice. We [law enforcement] are part of the problem.” He added there are plenty of good police officers “but we need to take out the trash.”
Another speaker remarked that there are people who believe in Sasquatch, but won’t admit racism exists in America.
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Image credit: ABC News, New York Post
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