‘THANK GOD FOR YOU’
Floyd’s brother, in emotional plea for justice, says he’s proud of protests, not destruction
Terrence Floyd, in a T-shirt bearing his slain brother’s face, silently surveyed a packed Brooklyn park as his sibling’s name echoed through the air.
“George Floyd! George Floyd!” chanted thousands of protesters gathered before his brother delivered an emotional Thursday call for peace at a memorial service in the borough that he calls home.
“I thank God for you all,” said Terrence Floyd, addressing the New York crowd as other family members attended the Minneapolis funeral for George.
“I’m proud of the protests, but I’m not proud of the destruction. My brother wasn’t about that. The Floyds are a God-fearing family.”
The NYPD has nightly clashed with demonstrators and looters since the 46-yearold Minnesota man’s death beneath the knee of a merciless Minnesota cop.
Those protests continued after the city’s 8 p.m. curfew took effect. Online videos showed police scuffling with protesters in the Bronx, and there were reports of protesters arrested there and in Manhattan.
About 20 protesters were arrested near Grand Army Plaza in Manhattan, at E. 59th St. and Fifth Ave., at around 10 p.m., said a police source. After police made the arrests, the crowd dispersed.
More than two hours after the curfew, a Daily News reporter saw some scuffles at a protest at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, but not on the scale of protests of the last few days.
At the Thursday afternoon Brooklyn event, borough resident Terrence Floyd, whose shirt carried the message “RIP” over his brother’s likeness, gave a shoutout to his friends across the five boroughs as many in the crowd raised their fists in a show of support — a mosaic of angry New Yorkers demanding change.
Others shouted “You are not alone!” in unison before Floyd delivered his brief but thoughtful remarks in the Cadman Plaza park opposite the federal courthouse.
“I thank you all for showing love to my brother,” said Floyd. “I want to say this: Power to the people. Not just my people, not just your people. All of us.”
Outraged New Yorkers of all ages and colors explained how they were united to both honor George Floyd and fight for a better future as New York demonstrations over the police brutality case stretched into week two.
“I’m here because I have six grandchildren, and I don’t want
them to die,” explained Wendy Richardson, 65, of Brooklyn.
Munira Siddiq, 30, of Queens, said she could physically feel Terrence Floyd’s pain as he addressed the crowd. “If even a seed of change comes from this, it will have all been worth it,” said Saddiq. “If we don’t do this, nobody is going to.”
State Attorney General Letitia James, who spoke after Mayor de Blasio was heckled by the crowd, offered a prayer for racial peace in the United States.
“The cries for justice and change are now being heard across this nation, and change is coming,” she said. “We pray that the spark that inspires change burns bright in the hearts of all of you.”
Public Advocate Jumaane Williams was joined by his mother as he criticized the city’s handling of the protests and the imposition of a curfew.
“There are some people who want to come up here and tell you to march in a way that doesn’t make people uncomfortable,” said Williams. “There are people who want to tell you to march, but, ‘Please do not disrupt the status quo!’ You are morally inept if you ask for peace without justice.”
Once the service ended, the protesting mourners began marching across the Brooklyn Bridge to a rally in Foley Square.
The memorial was timed to begin simultaneously with the Minneapolis funeral service for Floyd, whose May 25 death ignited national outrage and protests.
Terrence Floyd arrived for the memorial flanked by a swarm of social activists before a pastor recited a prayer for peace in both the city and the country.
“At the end of the day, my brother’s gone but the Floyd name still lives on,” said Floyd, sporting a Yankees cap. “I’m thankful to hear the memorial is going on in Minnesota … I hear it’s going on all over the world.”