Your daddy will have changed the world, Joe Biden tells George Floyd’s children

Dressed all in white and wearing face masks, George Floyd’s family huddled together in uncontained grief before the blue-lined casket where his giant body lay.

Brooke Williams, surrounded by members of the Floyd family, pays tribute to her uncle George in Houston. Picture: AFP

Dressed all in white and wearing face masks, George Floyd’s family huddled together in uncontained grief before the blue-lined casket where his giant body lay in a Texas church on Wednesday (AEST).

The congregation included members of congress, Houston’s mayor, the city’s police chief, Hollywood stars and celebrity sportsmen. For them and the global audience watching, the funeral at the Fountain of Praise church in Houston was a historic moment, an opportunity to remember the man whose death in police custody­ last month ignited worldwide protests for racial justice. But for those close to Floyd, 46, it was far more personal and painful.

“I know the deep hole in your hearts when you bury a piece of your soul,” Joe Biden, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, told the man’s family and friends in a video message.

“As I’ve said to you privately, we know you will never feel the same again. I’ve watched with awe as you summon the absolute courage to channel God’s grace and show the good man George was.”

Floyd died on May 25 when a white police officer in Minneapolis knelt on his neck for almost nine minutes, during which he said 16 times that he could not breathe.

He had been detained on suspicion of trying to use a counterfeit $20 bill.

The family’s search for justice had moved “millions to act peacefully and purposefully”, and created an opportunity to root out the “systemic abuse that still plagues American life”, Mr Biden said.

Addressing Floyd’s six-year-old daughter, he added: “When there is justice for George Floyd we will truly be on our way to racial justice in America. And then, as you said, Gianna, your daddy will have changed the world.”

A horse-drawn hearse containing the remains of George Floyd passes by during the funeral procession in Houston. Picture: AFP

The protests that have followed his death have altered the battleground for November’s election. President Donald Trump, who has made it clear he will seek re-elect­ion on a law-and-order platform, was not involved with the service.

In a day that capped more than two weeks of tension around the country, the theme inside the building was one of peace and hope as family members and friends took to the podium to share their grief. Civil rights leader Al Sharpton delivered the eulogy.

About 500 guests, all masked due to the coronavirus pandemic, filled the church, including actors Channing Tatum and Jamie Foxx, as well as boxing champion Floyd Mayweather, who reportedly paid all funeral expenses.

Roxie Washington comforts Gianna, her daughter with George Floyd. Picture: AP

“George Floyd changed the world. And we are going to make the world know that he made a ­difference,” local congressman Al Green told the congregation.

After the service, Floyd was to be taken to the Houston Memorial Gardens cemetery. The last mile was by horse and carriage before he was to be laid to rest beside his mother, whose name is tattooed on his stomach, and for whom he cried out in his last moments.

The Times