George Floyd Brooklyn Memorial Draws Thousands

BROOKLYN, NEW YORK — Terrence Floyd had few words to say to the thousands gathered in Cadman Plaza to celebrate the life of his brother George Floyd, who died with a police officer's knee on his neck.

The crowd chanted "You are not alone" as he paused for a long minute, head bowed. So much was taken from him with his brother's killing.

He raised his head and confessed to anger — a rage shared by the thousands over the past week who have protested George Floyd's killing and police violence against black people — that has given way to a form of hope.

"At the end of the day, my brother is gone but the Floyd name sure lives on," he said.

The Brooklyn memorial on Thursday brought together Terrence Floyd, a Bed-Stuy resident, a peaceful yet galvanized crowd of thousands and some of New York City's most powerful political leaders.

It also happened near where the night before NYPD officers rushed and violently broke up another peaceful crowd of protesters.

The constant fear of police is what brought a black woman who called herself "Mama Pat" to the Cadman Plaza. She leaned on a cane and held a sign aloft — one side said "My Granddaughter's Life Matters," the other said "My Future Grandchildrens Lives Matter."

Mama Pat said her granddaughter is 18 and has a right to live her life without fear of harassment, or worse, by police.

"She has a right to walk free in America," Mama Pat said.

Perhaps it was recent crackdown near Cadman Plaza, the much-criticized curfew amid protests, or decades of black Americans not being able to walk free, but the crowd immediately booed as Mayor Bill de Blasio showed up on the stage. De Blasio has backed the curfew and defended the NYPD's "restraint" over nights of protests.

The Reverend Kevin McCall, a civil rights leader and spokesperson for Terrence Floyd, asked for "respect" for de Blasio but the crowd turned it into calls for him to "resign."

The city's First Lady Chirlane McCray, who is black, received some polite indulgence from the crowd. But de Blasio's short speech was drowned out by boos.

Many in the crowd turned their backs on him.

New York Attorney General Letitia James, who is from Brooklyn, received a much more positive response as she ripped through a barn burner speech calling for social justice and lasting change in policing.

A helicopter buzzed overhead as James said she prays for George Floyd's 6-year-old daughter

"I pray that Gianna, George's precious daughter, carries the loving memory of her father always and that she not be embittered by the injustice that is taking him away too soon," she said. "That she join with all of the other daughters whose fathers were also killed by the hands and arms and knees and bullets of indifference.

James called for protesters to continue marching, especially the young people in the crowd.

"You all know that every change in this country has started with young people, not politicians," she said.

City Public Advocate Jumaane Williams also delivered an impassioned speech calling for protesters to "comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable." There are some people who will tell you to march in a way that doesn't make others uncomfortable, he told the crowd.

"But they forget that the people who have been affected the most have been uncomfortable for 400 and 500 years," he said.

Williams trained harsh words toward de Blasio and Gov. Andrew Cuomo. Where were you when rats crawled through NYCHA or the educational system was broken, he pointedly asked.

Every time the solution was to send more police, even when people started protesting police, he said.

He brought up Cuomo's and de Blasio's outrage as looters destroyed and stole property in Manhattan and Bronx amid George Floyd-related unrest. Property should be protected, he said.

"We must protect property, we must make sure people feel safe," he said. "But where is the same energy for black lives?"

Brooklyn congressional representatives Nydia Velazquez, Yvette Clarke and Hakeem Jeffries all spoke as well before Terrence Floyd took the microphone.

His voice was low at first. He called for peace.

"I'm proud of the protests but I'm not proud of the destruction," he said.

The thousands-strong rally left Cadman Plaza and turned toward the Brooklyn Bridge, where they peacefully marched, mourning George Floyd and carrying renewed purpose in the path ahead.