By TOM FOREMAN Jr., DAVID CRARY and JOHN LEICESTER, Associated Press
RAEFORD, N.C. (AP) — Hundreds of mourners lined up Saturday to pay respects to George Floyd in his North Carolina hometown, and the nation’s capital prepared for what was expected to be the city’s largest demonstration yet against police brutality.
Military vehicles and officers in fatigues closed off much of downtown Washington to traffic ahead of the planned march, which was expected to attract up to 200,000 people outraged by Floyd’s death 12 days ago at the hands of police in Minneapolis.
In Paris, hundreds of people gathered at the Place de la Concorde in defiance of a police ban on large protests.
Members of the multiracial crowd chanted the name of Adama Traore, a Black man whose death while in police custody a few years ago has been likened by critics of French police to Floyd’s death in Minnesota.
Chris Trabot, a Black man working for Paris City Hall, said Floyd’s death triggered his decision to demonstrate for the first time in his life.
