Presumptive Democratic presidential nominee and former Vice President Joe Biden will reportedly be meeting with George Floyd’s family before the funeral service which is scheduled to take place in Houston on Monday, ABC News reported. An aide with the Biden campaign told the outlet that the candidate is planning to travel to Houston on Monday to speak to Floyd’s family personally.
The aide told ABC News that Biden wanted to pass on his condolences in person, which is why he’s making the trip. The aide also said that Biden has recorded a video message that will be played during the funeral.
According to The New York Times , Biden is not planning to attend the funeral while in Houston. Since Biden travels with the Secret Service and a cadre of staffers, there were concerns about disrupting the funeral services. So, he will reportedly offer his condolences to the family beforehand and skip the services. Biden spoke to Floyd’s family remotely shortly after he died, promising them that justice would be served.
Funeral services for Floyd are scheduled to take place in Houston — where Floyd was raised — on Monday, according to ABC News . The services will be preceded by six hours of open viewing when people can come and pay their respects to Floyd. He will be buried in Pearland, a suburb of Houston, on Tuesday.
Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner joins me on a special #PoliticsNation to discuss the upcoming Houston funeral of #GeorgeFloyd , police reform, and more pic.twitter.com/7qWIiOopeu
— Reverend Al Sharpton (@TheRevAl) June 6, 2020
According to NBC News , memorial services for Floyd have already been held in Minneapolis — where he died — and North Carolina, where Floyd’s family lives. The memorial service held in Minneapolis was attended by Floyd’s family as well as several public figures and politicians — including Rev. Al Sharpton, Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, Rev. Jesse Jackson, Tiffany Haddish, Kevin Hart, T.I. and Ludacris. Gwen Carr, whose son Eric Garner also died during an encounter with police, also attended the Minneapolis memorial.
The service in North Carolina was a private one for family and friends of Floyd, per NBC News . The service was also attended by local public officials who committed to policy reforms to ensure other people wouldn’t die at the hands of police as Floyd did.
The private service was preceded by a public viewing of Floyd’s casket, NBC News reported. Thousands of people lined up to attend the public viewing and pay their respects to Floyd, whose death lit the fire of change that has been burning throughout the country. According to NBC News , when the coffin was taken out of the hearse to be transported to the viewing, the people gathered started chanting “black power” and “no justice, no peace.”