The attorney for George Floyd’s family, Ben Crump, said the “pandemic of racism” was responsible for Floyd’s death last week at the hands of police.
“It was not the coronavirus pandemic that killed George Floyd,” Crump said Thursday at Floyd’s memorial, held at a sanctuary at North Central University in Minneapolis.
Sharpton also used his time at the podium to denounce President Donald Trump for using Floyd’s death as a “prop,” much like the Bible the president held up in front of St. John’s Church in Washington this week after law enforcement tear-gassed protesters nearby.
Sharpton said Floyd’s story “has been the story of Black folks,” noting that the 46-year-old’s death reminded him of the killing of Eric Garner, who died after New York City police held him in a chokehold in 2014.
At the start of the service, Scott Hagan, president of North Central University, announced a new scholarship in Floyd’s name for “the educational promise of aspiring young Black American leaders,” and challenged other universities to establish their own scholarships in Floyd’s honor.
