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'This Is Something You Need To See': On Day Of George Floyd's Funeral, Hundreds Make Pilgrimage To Mpls. Memorial Site

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- Crowds continue to fill the area near East 38th Street and Chicago Avenue in south Minneapolis to remember and honor the life of George Floyd.

His funeral was held Tuesday in Houston, but many made the trip to the Powderhorn neighborhood in search of understanding and peace.

Flowers now cover the ground where he took his last breath. At about 11 a.m. Tuesday, a moment of silence was held to remember the man whose life was taken by police and sparked an uprising around the globe.

For Julianna Nazza, her trip from Brooklyn, New York to the site was more emotional than expected, and it has caused her to call for change.

"It's not just a spectacle. You come here, you pay your respects, you understand it's a place to learn, it's a place to see what happened and honor that, and learn how to move forward," Nazza said. "Getting police reform, you know, spending money in different places. I think that the louder we are, the more things will change."

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Community organizer Michael McDowell says the wheels of change are moving.

"We need to make sure we keep the pressure on, we need to make sure that we stay out here, that the energy stays the same," McDowell said.

He believes Minneapolis is the epicenter of the uprising, and will be the city where a different type of policing will become reality.

"I feel like a lot of folks are trying to adjust to how fast the change we want is actually happening," McDowell said.

What's happening at the site of Floyd's death is a connection with community like never before. Dan and Beth Rodich visited the site on their 18th wedding anniversary.

"You guys are going to see this in text books and in history, and this is something you need to see," Beth Rodich said.

The Rodichs say the gathering of people from all different backgrounds gives them hope that change can be forced through unity.

"While I'm standing here taking this all in, our generation and our children's generation, the world can give change," Dan Rodich said. "I hope one day we can all sit around a table somewhere and have a great conversation and look back at today and go, 'We made a difference.' That's really what I hope."

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