George Floyd, the African-American man whose death in police custody roused worldwide protests against racism, was extolled on Tuesday as a "gentle giant" and a symbol of the oppressed's struggle for justice at a funeral in his hometown of Houston, in the state of Texas.

Family members and friends, most dressed all in white, stepped up to a microphone to describe Floyd as a loving, larger than life personality who deserved justice after his death while in the custody of Minneapolis police officers on May 25.