Martin Luther King's daughter gives powerful speech at Rayshard Brooks' funeral

Martin Luther King's daughter, Bernice A King, received a standing ovation after delivering a powerful speech at the funeral of Rayshard Brooks, who was shot by police in Atlanta.

Bernice King makes a fist saying 'no justice no peace' while speaking at Rayshard Brooks funeral.

Bernice King makes a fist saying 'no justice no peace' while speaking at Rayshard Brooks funeral. Source: AAP

The daughter of US civil rights icon Martin Luther King called for more pressure to ensure equal justice for African Americans as Rayshard Brooks, whose killing in Atlanta by a policeman sparked angry protests, was buried at a private funeral.

"Rayshard Brooks' death will not be in vain," Bernice A. King said at a funeral for Mr Brooks, who was shot dead on June 12 after being detained by police at a Wendy's fast-food restaurant.

"We cannot stop our cry for justice and our fight for freedom," she told Mr Brooks' family, friends and supporters at Ebenezer Baptist Church, where her father had been a pastor.

"We cannot stop our demonstrations until our voices are heard and our demands for police reform are met."
A banner of Rayshard Brooks at Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, Georgia.
A banner of Rayshard Brooks at Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, Georgia. Source: AAP
Ebenezer Baptist was where the Martin Luther King Jr, the leader of the Black civil rights movement until his assassination in 1968, once preached and where his body is laid to rest.

The latest in a series of police killings of African Americans, Mr Brooks, 27, was detained by officers Garrett Rolfe and Devin Brosnan who found him asleep in his car in the restaurant's drive-in line.

Over a calm 20-minute interaction, they gave him an alcohol test and, after it proved positive, sought to arrest him for driving under the influence.
After a brief struggle Mr Brooks ran off with one of the officers' tasers and Mr Rolfe shot him twice in the back.

Mr Rolfe was fired and charged with murder while Mr Brosnan, who agreed to cooperate with the investigation, was charged with aggravated assault.

Atlanta District Attorney Paul Howard said Mr Rolfe had no justification for shooting Mr Brooks as he fled, and aggravated the case by kicking his body as he lay on the ground bleeding.

Mr Brooks' shooting came less than three weeks after a Minneapolis police officer's killing of handcuffed African American George Floyd on 25 May fuelled a national uproar over racism and police brutality.
Tomika Miller, the widow of Rayshard Brooks, and their three daughters.
Tomika Miller, the widow of Rayshard Brooks, and their three daughters. Source: AAP
At the funeral, Ms King called for a "revolution of values" across the country to end systematic racism. 

"There can be no peace in Atlanta nor anywhere in our nation where there is no justice," she said. 

"No justice, no peace," she added, repeating the chant of protesters around the country.


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Source: AFP, SBS


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Martin Luther King's daughter gives powerful speech at Rayshard Brooks' funeral | SBS News