Viewing of Brown’s body held after police killing
HERTFORD, N.C. — After a week and a half of shouting in the streets over the police shooting of Andrew Brown Jr., the quieter, more private grieving formally began on Sunday with the public viewing of his body at a funeral home in Hertford.
A slow stream of family, friends and frustrated neighbors filed into the parlor of Horton’s Funeral Home to sign the guest register and stand for a few seconds — or minutes — by Brown’s open casket beginning at 9 a.m.
By 4:45 p.m. Sunday, 300 people had walked into an auditorium at the Museum of the Albemarle in Elizabeth City to see Brown’s body. About 80 attended the earlier viewing in Hertford, the funeral home said. Close family of Brown’s did not attend either viewing, but had seen the body earlier.
An invitation-only funeral is scheduled for noon Monday at Fountain of Life Church in Elizabeth City. The service will be streamed live by Horton’s Funeral Home.
Brown, 42, was shot and killed by officers of the Pasquotank County Sheriff’s Office on April 21 as they attempted to serve a warrant on drug charges. Officials have said the shooting was justified, but protesters have marched every evening since the shooting to say it was unnecessary and demonstrates a continuing use of excessive force by police against Black people.
Protesters in Elizabeth City on Saturday and Sunday and in Durham on Saturday called for authorities to release all police video showing what happened the morning deputies killed Brown. A state Superior Court judge on Wednesday turned down media requests to make the video public, though he said more of it could be made available to immediate family members for viewing.
Terrell Green, a cousin of Brown’s who said he grew up around him in Elizabeth City, was among the first to pay his respects Sunday morning.
He stood briefly by Brown’s casket, glanced at a video tribute of him playing on a loop on a wall-mounted TV, and stepped back outside. The video, set to a contemporary gospel song, was a slideshow of photographs from Brown’s life, now largely overshadowed by the circumstances of his death. Standing with his grandmother. Hugging his kids.
Brown’s body, displayed in a crisp white shirt and tie, was obscured by a lacetrimmed veil and surrounded by sprays of red roses and baby’s breath.
As the two viewings of Brown’s body were held, protesters gathered for one of the largest demonstrations against his death in days. Protesters have marched nightly and some days in response to his death.
“This is a peaceful yet powerful protest,” said the Rev. Greg Drumwright, a Greensboro pastor who organized the rally and brought buses of people to Elizabeth City. “We’re applying pressure against the system of white supremacy. … We’re here to stand with the Brown family, to build community around criminal justice reform and greater police accountability.”