A funeral will be held next Monday for Andrew Brown Jr., a Black man shot and killed by North Carolina deputies, with the Rev. Al Sharpton delivering the eulogy.
Lawyers for Brown’s family said that the funeral will take place at noon on Monday in Elizabeth City. Other details of the arrangements were still being settled. Brown was shot and killed last week by Pasquotank County deputies serving drug-related search and arrest warrants.
Brown’s family asked Sharpton to deliver the eulogy because they felt the civil rights leader would properly honor his legacy, said Lee Ferebee, the uncle of Brown’s son Khalil Ferebee.
“We had a really good conversation about giving Andrew the kind of sendoff that we felt like he was worthy of,” Ferebee said in a phone interview. “So, Reverend Sharpton, we reached out to him, and we confirmed that he’s going to be performing the eulogy for us.”
The civil rights leader delivered the eulogy last week for Daunte Wright, who was shot and killed by a police officer in Minnesota.
Sharpton told The Associated Press in a phone interview that he agreed to the family’s request and spoke to Khalil Ferebee by phone Monday night. He said he’s also working with local clergy and North Carolina civil rights leaders including the Rev. William Barber II, the leader of the Poor People’s Campaign to draw attention to racial injustice.
“The family ought to know that the value of his life is being saluted around the world,” Sharpton said.
Sharpton said that he wants to both celebrate Brown’s life and help call attention to larger problems with policing that need to be addressed.
“I would want to get across that this is a human being. And for us, it’s part of a continual abuse of police power,” he said.
On Wednesday, a judge will consider a petition to publicly release body camera footage of the shooting Brown. A coalition of media organizations, including WUNC, has petitioned the judge to grant the release of the footage. The hearing comes after a seventh night of protests in Elizabeth City since Pasquotank County sheriff's deputies shot and killed Brown.
Tony Riddick of Hertford was one of about 300 protesters who marched Tuesday night.
“It touches me deeply because I'm a human and you don't want to see humans fall that way,” Riddick said. “But this right here touched me and made me come out physically because I'm from the area and I understand the history of racism in this area. It's deep, man.”
At least six people were arrested without incident after about a dozen protesters stayed out beyond a newly implemented curfew.
