Thousands of mourners gathered just outside Fayetteville on June 6 to celebrate the life of a man whose death in police custody in Minneapolis had gripped the nation.
The private family memorial service and public viewing for George Floyd, who was born in Fayetteville, was held at the Cape Fear Conference B Headquarters in Raeford.
People stood in line for hours to walk past the gold casket with a spray of red roses on top that held Floyd’s body. The lines snaked throughout the parking lot, and traffic along U.S. 301 stretched for miles.
Hoke County Sheriff Hubert Peterkin said it was quite an undertaking for a county with a population of 60,000.