The family memorial service for George Floyd, the 46-year-old who died during an encounter with four police Minneapolis police officers, will be held Thursday.
North Central University along Elliot Avenue in South Minneapolis will host the gathering from 1 to 3 p.m. Thursday in the Frank J. Lindquist Sanctuary, with the Rev. Al Sharpton delivering the eulogy and participation of family members from across the country, his civil rights organization announced.
On Thursday, Sharpton, Eric Garner’s mother and Minneapolis City Council Vice President Andrea Jenkins visited the South Minneapolis site at 38th Street and Chicago Avenue where Floyd died and said that they stand with community members demanding justice and prosecution of the police involved. Sharpton said he planned to stay in town to attend Floyd’s funeral services at the request of his family.
The event will be private for family, friends and those invited by the Floyds. The service will be live-streamed by local media. Links will be available at the school’s website, www.northcentral.edu.
On Monday, Floyd’s younger brother Terrence, who lives in New York, visited the site with the Rev. Kevin McCall and civil rights lawyer Sanford Rubenstein, among others. They called for peace.
George Floyd’s May 25 death sparked protests and violent rioting and looting in Minneapolis and St. Paul and other cities across the United States and the world.
Former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin, who was recorded on video with his knee on Floyd’s neck for nearly nine minutes, was charged last week with third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter and is currently in custody at the Minnesota Correctional Facility — Oak Park Heights. The other three officers have been fired, but not charged, despite demands from protesters and others.
The Hennepin County medical examiner’s office on Monday classified George Floyd’s death as a homicide, saying his heart stopped as Minneapolis police restrained him and compressed his neck. That differs from a separate autopsy commissioned for Floyd’s family that also called his death a homicide but concluded that he died of asphyxiation due to neck and back compression.
