Funeral Processions Held For George Floyd Across LA

LOS ANGELES (CBSLA) – Four separate symbolic funeral processions were held across the Southland Monday to honor George Floyd, culminating in a memorial service in downtown Los Angeles.

Beginning in South Los Angeles, Long Beach, Reseda and Orange County, the four processions made their way to downtown L.A., where they converged for a midday gathering at First Street and Broadway.

The processions coincided with memorial services also held Monday in Houston for Floyd -- who died after being pinned to the ground by a white Minneapolis police officer who placed his knee on Floyd's neck for nearly nine minutes.

Dozens of religious leaders hosted the service, including pastor Dave Gibbons of Santa Ana, who said, "We've been complicit in our silence and it's time that the church is not just saying, we're not racist, but that we're anti-racist and we have to actually be active, we have to be intentional about it."

"Young people are pulling in with us old people, to help us out, so now there's gonna be a change," Leimert Park resident Mary Watkins told CBSLA Monday.

"We've got to dismantle this system, this system does not work for us, we've tried to reform it, no more reform, we've got to dismantle the system and rebuild it in an equitable way for all," said another man taking part in the procession.

The event was organized by Black Lives Matter, the Clergy & Laity United for Economic Justice (CLUE) and Newsong LA.

Meanwhile, Floyd's body arrived in his hometown of Houston Monday for a public viewing at a local church. A private funeral will be held on Tuesday.

On May 25, cell phone captured footage of the violent arrest of the 46-year-old Floyd. The video showed a white police officer with his knee pushed against Floyd's neck has he repeatedly says he cannot breath. He later died in a hospital. The video sparked outrage and a week-and-a-half of protests across the Los Angeles metro area and throughout the nation calling for law enforcement reform and an end to police brutality.

All four officers involved in the arrest were fired and have since been arrested. The officer whose knee was on Floyd's neck has been charged with second-degree murder.

According to CBS Minnesota, the officers had been dispatched to a report of someone using a forged document at a deli. Police initially claimed Floyd resisted officers and was intoxicated.