Two civil rights leaders and the brother of George Floyd will hold a memorial service for Floyd on Thursday at Downtown Brooklyn’s Cadman Plaza, one of the organizers announced at a Wednesday press conference.
“Terrence Floyd will be present, other family members will be present,” said Rev. Kevin McCall, a civil rights leader with the Crisis Action Center and a Brooklyn pastor who is hosting the memorial with Terrence Floyd and Kevin Livingston, who runs a non-profit called 100 Suits, which provides free suits to formerly incarcerated men.
The service is slated for 1 pm, and will be followed by a march across the Brooklyn Bridge to Foley Square in Lower Manhattan, McCall confirmed.
Terrence Floyd, a Brooklyn resident, was supposed to attend Wednesday’s press conference — which featured Commissioner Shea and other civic leaders — but Floyd withdrew after feeling overwhelmed, McCall explained.
“Terrence Floyd is overwhelmed at this moment and he wanted to be here today,” McCall said. “He wanted to call for peace and he wanted to call for justice.”
McCall urged people to peacefully protest Floyd’s killing, saying that looting disrespects George Floyd’s memory.
“Those who loot and disrespect the memory of George Floyd, don’t do it in the name of George Floyd,” he said at the press conference.
After McCall spoke, Commissioner Shea said that the New York City police officer “condemn” the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis.
“We condemn what took place in Minneapolis,” he said. “And I think it’s much larger than law enforcement condemning it — any human being with a conscience who looks at the video feels the same way.”
Critics have lambasted the police department over the last week for allegedly using excessive force against protesters marching against police brutality. But Shea, who refused to take any questions from the press, said that the NYPD “stands with the Floyd family” and he’s “extremely proud” of the officers in the NYPD.
“We have biases, but I think all of us need to continue to see each other, continue to hear each other, and continue to work together,” he said.
