Rev. Al Sharpton Delivers the Eulogy at First Memorial Service for George Floyd

In Minneapolis today, hundreds gathered to say farewell to George Floyd, the unarmed 46-year-old Black man killed last week by a white police officer who knelt on Floyd’s neck for more than eight minutes, sparking protests in dozens of U.S. cities and around the world. The former officer, Derek Chauvin, has been charged with second-degree murder, and the three other former officers have been charged with aiding and abetting a murder.

Rev. Al Sharpton delivered the eulogy, saying, “There is a time and a season. And, when I looked this time and saw white marchers that, in some cases, outnumbered the Blacks marching, I know it is a different time and a different season.”

Since Floyd’s murder outside a Minneapolis store where he allegedly tried to use a counterfeit $20 bill, protesters have defied historic narratives and coronavirus pandemic guidelines to call for social justice. A broad cross-section of Americans has gathered from Washington, D.C. to Little Rock, Arkansas to Los Angeles and points in between.

Sharpton shared with the crowd a recent example of the diversity among the protesters.

He said, “A young white girl…she couldn’t have been more than nine-years-old…tugged on my jacket, and I turned around and she said, ‘No justice…no peace.’”

Sharpton used daylight saving time as an analogy to illustrate the urgency of this moment and the failure of some politicians to recognize the new demands of the American public.

Referencing Congresswoman Ilhan Omar who sat in the audience and has been a frequent target of President Donald Trump, Sharpton said, “If you don’t move your watch…sitting in Washington talking about militarizing the country and thinking you can sell wolf tickets. Time is out for not holding people accountable…time is out for you to stall…this is the time. We won’t stop. We’re going to keep going until we change the whole system of justice.”

Earlier this week as the protests became more intense and chaotic with looting in some cities, President Trump called governors “weak” and threatened to militarize the response to the civil unrest. Critics from both parties expressed dissatisfaction with Trump’s belligerent approach to the expression of First Amendment rights.

During the memorial, Floyd’s youngest brother, Rodney, said “We had a house full of love. And, I appreciate the love of everyone in here. He would stand up for any injustice anywhere.”

Benjamin Crump, the Floyd family’s attorney said, “The plea for justice is simply this…Dr. Martin Luther King said, ‘He who passively accepts evil is as much involved in it as he who commits it.’ We will unite as a people who as God’s children will seek justice in [George Floyd’s] his name.”

Sharpton paused the service for 8 minutes and 46 seconds, the duration of the neck restraint that claimed Floyd’s life.

“There is no excuse…what will we do with the time we have,” Sharpton asked?

Memorial services will be held in Raeford, North Carolina Saturday and on June 8^th in Houston which was Floyd’s hometown.