Following a public visitation on Monday at Atlanta's Ebenezer Baptist Church, a private funeral was held Tuesday afternoon for Rayshard Brooks.
Brooks, who was 27 years old, was killed by an Atlanta police officer on June 12 in the parking lot of a Wendy's. Brooks' death, which came just weeks after George Floyd was killed by a police officer in Minneapolis, set off days of protest in the city.
Attendees at Tuesday’s service at Ebenezer, where the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. once preached, included King’s daughter the Rev. Bernice King, Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms and T.I.
The historic church's senior pastor, the Rev. Raphael Warnock, said at Monday's visitation for Brooks that "none of us are safe until all of us are safe," according to CNN.
“I’m very hopeful though. Because there is this multiracial coalition of conscious pouring out into American streets saying that we’ve got to address this age old virus of racism that we are one people and that in a real sense, none of us are safe until all of us are safe. Your children are not well unless my children are well,” Warnock, a Democratic candidate for Senate, said.
Warnock also spoke at Tuesday's service.
The Rev. Bernice King also gave a eulogy on Tuesday.
“This happened in Atlanta – the city that is supposed to be too busy to hate. The city that is the home to civil and human rights. This happened in the city that has been known as the Black mecca,” King said. “This happened in the city whose grounds are known for America and the world’s warrior of peace, my daddy Martin Luther King Jr. who taught us that true peace is not merely the absence of tension, but it is the presence of justice … therefore there can be no peace in Atlanta nor anywhere in our nation where there is no justice.”
Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms was among the elected officials in attendance at Tuesday’s funeral. Congressman John Lewis sent a letter, which Warnock presented.
Last week, attorneys for the family said that media mogul Tyler Perry would cover the funeral expenses. People magazine reported that Perry also offered to pay for the college educations of Brooks' four children.
Actress Sherri Shepherd said on Twitter that she was sending prayers to Brooks’ family.
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