Hundreds of Houstonians lined up at The Fountain of Praise church on Monday to mourn and pay their respects to George Floyd, the 46-year-old area native whose killing in police custody has inspired a growing movement against police brutality and racism.
A public viewing for Floyd was held between noon and 6 p.m., with elected officials like Mayor Sylvester Turner and Gov. Greg Abbott joining Houstonians and others who traveled from different parts of the state to pay their respects to Floyd.
For those who knew Floyd personally, the viewing was a chance for them to reconnect and remember him.
Many attendees wore black, often sporting shirts and masks that read “I can’t breathe” and “Black Lives Matter” as they filed past Floyd’s golden casket.
“We must never forget the name George Floyd or the global movement he has inspired,” Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo said announcing that she would proclaim June 9th as George Floyd Day in Harris County.
Prior to the service, Vice President Joe Biden privately met with Floyd’s family.
Floyd will be buried alongside his mother, whom he called out for while dying in police custody in Minneapolis last month.
The same day as Floyd’s memorial service, House and Senate Democrats unveiled new legislation to reform policing in the U.S.
The Justice in Policing Act would ban police from using chokeholds, create a national registry to prevent police with a record of misconduct from easily finding work in another jurisdiction, ban no-knock warrants in drug cases, and establish a training program to cover racial bias, among other things.
Photo: Texas Signal
Fernando covers Texas politics and government at the Texas Signal. Before joining the Signal, Fernando spent two years at the Houston Chronicle and previously interned at Houston’s NPR station News 88.7. He is a graduate of the University of Houston, Jack J. Valenti School of Communication, and enjoys reading, highlighting things, and arguing on social media. You can follow him on Twitter at @fernramirez93 or email at fernando@texassignalarchive.com
