cmannphoto/iStockBy CHRISTINA CARREGA, ABC News
(NEW YORK) — Family, friends and supporters of George Floyd will honor his memory in three cities starting on Thursday.
Floyd died on May 25 after being apprehended by police, as seen in a video that quickly spread across the nation, prompting over a week of demonstrations against police violence and racism.
The first memorial service will be on June 4 in Minneapolis at North Central University’s Frank J. Lindquist Sanctuary, where Rev. Al Sharpton will deliver a “national eulogy” and one of the Floyd family attorneys, Ben Crump, will give a “national criminal justice address.” The service will begin at 1 p.m. local time.
Another memorial service will be held on June 6 in Raeford, North Carolina, the state where Floyd was born, at Cape Fear Conference B Headquarters. A public viewing will be held from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. local time and a memorial service will start at 3 p.m.
The celebration of life services will head to Houston, Texas, where Floyd had previously lived, on June 8. A public visitation will occur at The Fountain of Praise on Hillcroft Avenue from noon to 6 p.m. local time.
Former boxing champion Floyd Mayweather stepped up to pay for the funeral expenses, Leonard Ellerbe, the CEO of Mayweather Promotions, told ESPN on Monday.
A private funeral service will be held at the same location at 11 a.m. local time.
On May 25, during an arrest, now former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin pressed his knee into the back of Floyd’s neck, video showed. Chauvin, 44, has since been arrested and charged with third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter. Three other involved officers were also terminated from the police department, but have not been charged as of Tuesday morning.
For over eight minutes, Floyd told the officer, “I can’t breathe,” and called for his “mama” before he lost consciousness and died. The 46-year-old man was being arrested for allegedly using a counterfeit $20 bill at a convenience store, police said.
Floyd’s death sparked national protests calling for an end to people of color, specifically African Americans, dying at the hands of police officers. Floyd was African American and Chauvin is white.
Two autopsy reports determined Floyd’s manner of death was a homicide, but were contradictory to the cause.
Crump announced on Monday that an independent autopsy determined the cause of death was by asphyxia “due to neck and back compression that led to a lack of blood flow to the brain.” The autopsy results from the Hennepin County Medical Examiner concluded Floyd’s death was caused by a cardiopulmonary arrest.
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