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CNN Live Event/Special
Remembering George Floyd. Aired 3-3:30p ET
Aired June 04, 2020 - 15:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[15:00:02]
RODNEY FLOYD, BROTHER OF GEORGE FLOYD: And we feel that love in your city and, thankfully, everybody, and plus around the world.
It is a beautiful thing, this great love we're receiving, and George Floyd is receiving, because he would love it. I wish he was here in the presence, in the flesh to see it, because all this great unity, it would bring him to tears, like it is bringing us.
But (INAUDIBLE) my brother, Big Floyd, as we -- as you all know.
Oh, cooking-wise, he would made me -- honestly, him and other brothers -- three gentlemen, my brother mentioned, grew up in our house. So, they would say, little bro, you make the best grilled cheese. Can you please go make us one?
(LAUGHTER)
FLOYD: I mean, if I tell you all, as a little 6- or 7-year-old kid, I did that numerous times.
I realized as I got older, you all are just using me.
(LAUGHTER)
FLOYD: But you know what? But just happier to be doing it.
(LAUGHTER)
FLOYD: But my big brother, great guy, great gentleman, great man, and, as a child without no father figure, he was big brother, but I didn't see the little stuff that he would throw in there.
He was doing the best he can. And the mistakes he made -- and I'm watching him, followed him, corrected myself as a grown man, as a teenager growing up, and learning from him how to be a man, and everything he exhorted us and taught us, he was doing him, but he was teaching us how to be a man, because he was in this world already before us.
And he gave us a lot of great lessons.
And one thing about a man keep it definitely, as is, Floyd, responsibility. He would stand up for his family and friends. And he's great at that. And I want you guys to know that he would stand up for any injustice anywhere.
Can you all please say his name?
AUDIENCE: George Floyd.
FLOYD: Thank you, all. Oh, my God.
(LAUGHTER)
FLOYD: Thank you.
BRANDON WILLIAMS, NEPHEW OF GEORGE FLOYD: I'm Brandon Williams. I'm George's nephew. I call him Perry.
We happen to share the same middle name for some reason. My mama wanted to name all of us after some of our siblings, and, coincidentally, I ended up with George.
Growing up, I mean, I'm a lot younger than them, but my grandmother raised me. I didn't have a father figure person in my life, so I grew up in the same house with them.
And my uncles were more of a father figure in my life. And with Perry being the alpha male, I gravitated to him. Coming up, I played sports. He did. You know, that kind of connected us and brought us real close.
I'm going to try not to be sad. This is a lot harder than I thought it would be.
(APPLAUSE)
WILLIAMS: I just -- just remember all -- I just remember just all of the memories, man.
So, more than anything, I just want to say thank you to him just for being there, just being a real, genuine person and just being loving and caring and someone I could count on no matter what.
We didn't have much, but, coming up, my grandmother tried her best. And wherever she slacked, he picked it up for him. He made sure I had sneakers and clothes and a lot of stuff like that. And I appreciate that.
I'm going to end it with a funny story about -- he was the biggest LeBron James fan. And I remember -- I don't know if you guys are familiar with the NBA, but when the Cavaliers, they came back on the Golden State Warriors in the finals, and I remember the very first phone call, and I told him: "Man, you're too happy. You sound like you won a championship."
(LAUGHTER)
WILLIAMS: We laughed about it. And he said: "Man, you know how I feel about LeBron. I did win a championship."
So, every time we would talk, I would ask him like: "Hey, how you doing, man? You good?"
And he said: "I feel like I won a championship."
And that kind of stuck. It was just this inside thing we had. So, I know him, being the strong person he was and seeing everybody come together and just rally around him, and extend all of the love and support to our family, and we're thankful and grateful.
And I know, more than anything, with everybody grieving and hurting, he would want us to feel like we won a championship.
So, I will end on that note. Thank you, all.
(APPLAUSE)
BENJAMIN CRUMP, ATTORNEY FOR FAMILY OF GEORGE FLOYD: You all, please give his family another round of applause.
(APPLAUSE)
CRUMP: Please, show them love. Show them love.
(APPLAUSE)
[15:05:10]
CRUMP: Thank you so much for bearing your hearts.
If we learned one thing, the Floyd boys like to eat.
(LAUGHTER)
CRUMP: And, also, they had a conversation with Tyler Perry, and it was pretty profound, because they said, we are the big extended black family that you portray, Will Packer and others, on your movie screens, because we all need one another.
And you can tell this family always needed George. And so it's awfully difficult for them.
The plea for justice is simply this. Dr. Martin Luther King said, he who passively accepts evil is as much involved in it as he who helps to perpetrate it.
(APPLAUSE)
CRUMP: He who accepts evil without protesting against it is really like cooperating with it.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes!
CRUMP: You know, T.I., on the video, what we saw was torture.
Reverend Jackson, what we saw on that video was inhumane.
Martin III, what we saw on that video was evil. And so, America, we proclaim, as we memorialize George Floyd, do not
cooperate with evil. Protest against evil. Join the young people in the streets protesting against the evil, the inhumane, the torture that they witnessed on that video.
We cannot cooperate with evil. We cannot cooperate with injustice. We cannot cooperate with torture, because George Floyd deserved better than that. We all deserve better than that. His family deserves better than that. His children deserve better than that.
(APPLAUSE)
CRUMP: Steve, all George wanted from life is what any of us want.
As Thomas Jefferson said in the Declaration of Independence, the inalienable rights endowed by our creator, Tyrese, to life, liberty and the pursuit to be happy on this Earth.
That's all George was asking for, like any and all of us. But he was denied those rights. And we will seek justice in his name. We will all unite as a people, who are God's children, seek justice in his name.
But beyond the specific justice in his case, Chris (ph), the prosecution of the four individuals who deprived George of his life, we seek a broader, more transformative justice, Reverend Al, a more just system of policing, Kevin, a more just treatment of people of color, Chris (ph), a more just criminal justice system.
In essence, what we are endeavoring to do, Brandon, is what my personal hero, Thurgood Marshall, said, make the Constitution a -- make the Constitution real for all Americans.
You see, Justice Marshall said, the basis of the Constitution is simply this, that a black baby born to a black mother, the most uneducated black mother, the most inarticulate black mother, the most impoverished black mother, has the same exact rights as a white baby born to a white mother, the most educated white mother, the most articulate white mother, as the most affluent white mother, just by virtue of that baby drawing its first breath as an American.
[15:10:35]
Now, Justice Marshall said, Reverend Jackson, I know that's not the case in America today, but I challenge anybody to say -- tell me that that's not the goal we're fighting for. He said I challenge anybody to say that's not what makes America the great beacon of hope and justice for all the world to marvel.
So, when we fight for the George Floyds of the world, but, more importantly, when we fight for the unknown George Floyds of the world, when we fight for the Trayvon Martins of the world, when we fight for the Terence Crutchers of the world, when we fight for the Michael Browns of the world, when we fight for the Alton Sterlings of the world, when we fight for the Philando Castiles of the world, when we fight for the Jamar Clarks of the world, when we fight for the Eric Garners of the world, when we fight for the Sandra Blands of the world, when we fight for the Ahmaud Arberys of the world, when we fight for the Breonna Taylors of the world, when we fight without the Natasha McKennas of the world, when we fight for the Stephon Clarks of the world.
When we fight for the least of these, what we are really doing is helping America live up to its creed. We -- what we're really doing is helping America be the great beacon of hope and justice for all the world to marvel.
But, most importantly, brothers and sisters, what we are doing is helping America be America for all Americans.
(APPLAUSE)
CRUMP: What we want, T.I., is not two justice systems in America, one for black America and one for white America.
What we endeavor to achieve is equal justice for the United States of America, and George Floyd is the moment that gives us the best opportunity I have seen in a long time of reaching that high ideal that this country was founded on.
Thank you so much. This is a plea for justice.
(APPLAUSE)
CRUMP: On behalf of the family, the children, we will get justice. We are committed to it.
Now I would introduce you to a man who really needs no introduction who will eulogize George Floyd. Here's a man who has fought for so many families that -- too many hashtags to remember.
And when he gets the call, he always answers the call, even when the cameras aren't around, even after the cameras are gone.
Ask Eric Garner's family. Ask Stephon Clark's family. Ask any of these families. The cameras have long gone, Tony (ph), but Reverend Al continues to answer the bell when our people call. He is a leader that you see on TV commentating about our experiences, but, more importantly, he is a leader who has lived our experiences.
And because he has lived those experiences, that's what makes him so effective in commentating on MSNBC about our experiences. And he is going to talk about the experience of the terrible loss of somebody who should be with us today.
And that is George Floyd.
Please give a great round of applause for the Reverend Al Sharpton.
(APPLAUSE)
REV. AL SHARPTON, PRESIDENT, NATIONAL ACTION NETWORK: Thank you.
[15:15:02] I want us to not sit here and act like we had a funeral on the schedule. George Floyd should not be among the deceased. He did not die of common health conditions.
He died of a common American criminal justice malfunction.
(APPLAUSE)
SHARPTON: He died because of -- there has not been the corrective behavior that has taught this country that, if you commit a crime, it does not matter whether you wear blue jeans or a blue uniform. You must pay for the crime you commit.
(APPLAUSE)
SHARPTON: So, it is not a normal funeral. It is not a normal circumstance. But it's too common, and we need to deal with it.
Let me ask those of you that, in the traditions of eulogies, need a scriptural reference. Go to Ecclesiastes 3rd Chapter. First verse says, to everything, there is a time and a purpose and season under the heavens. I'm going to leave it there.
I saw somebody standing in front of a church the other day what had been boarded up as a result of violence, held the Bible in his hand. I have been preaching since I was a little boy. I never seen anyone hold a Bible like that. But I will leave that alone.
(LAUGHTER)
SHARPTON: But since he held the Bible, if he's watching us today, I would like him to open that Bible.
(APPLAUSE)
SHARPTON: And I would like him to read Ecclesiastics 3.
To every season, there's a time and a purpose. And I think that it is our job to let the world know, when we see what is going on in the streets of this country and in Europe, around the world, that you need to know what time it is.
First of all, we cannot use Bibles as a prop. And for those that have agendas that are not about justice, this family will not let you use George as a prop.
(APPLAUSE)
SHARPTON: If you want to get your stuff off, don't use him.
Let us stand for what is right, because, when I got the call from attorney Crump -- and, usually, when he calls me, it's not to find out how I'm doing. It's usually because something happened that he wants National Action Network and I to get involved.
And he explained to me what was happening with this case. And I had already heard about it in the media. And, immediately, I said, well, let me know what you want me to do. He said, "Whatever you need to do."
One of the things, Martin, that I have always had to deal with is, critics would say, all Al Sharpton wants is publicity.
Well, that's exactly what I want, because nobody calls me to keep a secret.
(APPLAUSE)
SHARPTON: People call me to blow up issues that nobody else will deal with. I'm the blowup man, and I don't apologize for that.
(APPLAUSE)
SHARPTON: Because you get away too much with hiding things.
Philonise talked about you all putting clothes in the oven to have your clothes dried.
[15:20:05]
Well, I didn't grow up in the Third World, but I grew up in the Third Ward. I grew up in Brownsville. And we had roaches. Now, I know Kevin Hart and some of the rich Hollywood folk here don't know what roaches are, but...
(LAUGHTER)
SHARPTON: ... we had roaches, Ludacris.
And one thing I found out about roaches is that, if you keep the light off, if you are in the dark, a roach will pull up to your dinner table and have a five-course meal.
So, I learned one of the ways to deal with roaches is, if you cut the light on, I could run them roaches and track them down. And I have spent all my life chasing roaches all over this country.
(APPLAUSE)
SHARPTON: As soon as I talked to the family and got the details, and heard that among George's last words was "I can't breathe," with a knee on his neck, I immediately thought about Eric Garner. I did the eulogy at his funeral.
And I called his mother. And I said: "I know we're not going out because of the coronavirus, but this is so much like Eric. If we could arrange some private way to go to Minneapolis, would you go?"
And she said: "Reverend Al, I'm already packing. Let me know."
Tyler Perry said, "I will give the families the plane, whatever you all need, because this is wrong." Robert Smith said, don't worry about the funeral cost. People across economic and racial lines started calling and getting in. And we flew out here, her and I, last Thursday. And when I stood at that spot, the reason it got to me is, George Floyd's story has been the story of black folks, because, ever since 401 years ago, the reason we could never be who we wanted and dreamed to be is, you kept your knee on our neck.
(APPLAUSE)
SHARPTON: We were smarter than the underfunded schools you put us in, but you had your knee on our neck.
We could run corporations and not hustle in the street, but you had your knee on our neck. We had creative skills. We could do whatever anybody else could do, but we couldn't get your knee off our neck.
What happened to Floyd happens every day in this country in education, in health services, and in every area of American life. It's time for us to stand up in George's name and say, get your knee off our necks.
(APPLAUSE)
SHARPTON: That's the problem, no matter who you are.
We thought, maybe we had a complex, T.I., maybe it was just us. But even blacks that were broke through, you kept your knee on their neck.
Michael Jordan won all of these championships, and you kept digging for mess, because you got to put a knee on our neck. White housewives would run home to see a black woman on TV named Oprah Winfrey, and you messed with her, because you just can't take your knee off our neck.
A man comes out of a single-parent home, educates himself and rises up and becomes the president of the United States, and you ask him for his birth certificate, because you can't take your knee off our neck.
(APPLAUSE)
[15:25:15]
SHARPTON: The reason why we are marching all over the world is, we were like George. We couldn't breathe, not because there was something wrong with our lungs, but that you wouldn't take your knee off our neck.
We don't want no favors. Just kept up off of us, and we can be and do whatever we can be.
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
SHARPTON: There have been protests all over the world.
Some have looted and done other things. And none of us in this family condones looting or violence. But the thing I want us to be real cognizant of is, there's a
difference between those calling for peace and those calling for quiet.
(APPLAUSE)
SHARPTON: Some of you all don't want peace. You just want quiet. You just want us to shut up and suffer in silence.
The overwhelming majority of the people marching wasn't breaking windows. They were trying to break barriers. They wasn't trying to steal nothing. They were trying to get back the justice you stole from us.
Those that broke the law should pay for whatever law they broke, but so should the four policemen that caused this funeral today. We don't have a problem denouncing violence, Mr. Governor. We don't have a problem, Mr. Mayor, denouncing looting.
But it seems like some in the criminal justice system have a problem looking at a tape and knowing there's probable cause, and it takes a long time for you to go and do what you see that you need to do.
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
SHARPTON: But I'm one that, as Ben Crump said, National Action Network and I have been involved in a lot of these fights we started around criminal justice.
I did speeches and eulogies at most of the funerals that we have had in this space in the last couple of decades, and led the marches, and did what we had to do.
I look at Martin III. We went to jail together fighting these fights, like his daddy went to jail before.
But I'm more hopeful today than ever. Why? Well, let me go back. Reverend Jackson always taught me, stay on your text. Go back to my text, Ecclesiastes.
There is a time and a season. And when I looked this time and saw marches where, in some cases, young whites outnumbered the blacks marching, I know that it's a different time and a different season.
When I looked and saw people in Germany marching for George Floyd, it's a different time and a different season. When they went in front of the Parliament in London, England, and said, it's a different time and a different season, I come to tell you, America, this is the time of dealing with accountability in the criminal justice system.
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
SHARPTON: Stephen (ph), years ago, I went to march.
And I remember a young white lady looked me right in the face and said, "Nigger, go home." But when I was here last Thursday, and, Ms. Khan (ph), I was headed back to the airport, I stopped near the police station.
[15:30:00]
