Symbolic funeral procession honours Floyd in Connecticut

HARTFORD, Conn. — Hundreds of cars travelled from Windsor to Hartford on Wednesday in a procession led by a hearse with an empty casket —- one of several demonstrations around Connecticut to honour George Floyd and protest racial injustice.

The procession in Floyd’s honour ended with a rally at the state capitol, where speakers eulogized victims of police brutality and called for a sustained effort to address issues of poverty and discrimination.

Floyd, a black man, died after a white officer in Minneapolis pressed his knee into his neck for several minutes even after he stopped moving and pleading for air.

“There’s a difference between a moment and movement,” said state Sen. Douglas McCrory, a Democrat. “We need a movement. I need to see you next month. I need to see you six months from now with the same enthusiasm.”

Gov. Ned Lamont, a Democrat, was among those in attendance at the rally, which was organized by the YWCA Hartford Region and other groups.

“As George Floyd took his very last breath and said ‘Mama I can’t breathe,’ he didn’t know that it would take him laying in a box dead before a nation called his name and cried out for transformation,” Melinda Johnson of the YWCA said.

Since Floyd’s death last week, people have turned out for overwhelming nonviolent demonstrations in cities and towns across Connecticut. On Wednesday, demonstrations also were being held elsewhere including Danbury, where protesters shouted “I can’t breathe” as they walked through the city.

The Associated Press