NEWARK, N.Y. (WCBS 880) — A statue honoring George Floyd was unveiled in Newark on Wednesday.
Mayor Ras J. Baraka was joined by actor, director, and filmmaker Leon Pinkney, who commissioned the 700-pound bronze statue, and sculptor Stanley Watts at the unveiling ceremony.
The statue will stand outside City Hall for at least one year.
"This was a gift by this artist to the City of Newark and he probably could've taken this anywhere. We are grateful that he chose to display it in Newark for as long as we possibly could have it," Baraka said.
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Floyd, a 46-year-old Black man, was killed by a white Minneapolis police officer last May. His death ignited a national reckoning on race and sparked months of protests and police reforms in cities across the country.
"George Floyd represents a lot more than himself at this juncture in history. Congress is contemplating a George Floyd Policing bill right now," Baraka said. "All of the activity that took place around this country, around the world because of the untimely and ferocious and vicious murder of George Floyd and all of the activism that sparked out of it is worth us pausing and paying attention to."
The unveiling ceremony will also mark Juneteenth, which commemorates the end of slavery in the United States.
The U.S. Senate passed a bill Tuesday designating June 19th a federal holiday.
Last year, Gov. Phil Murphy signed legislation designating Juneteenth as an official state holiday.