Obama called Philonise Floyd before George Floyd’s memorial service, offered him suppport: NYT

Former president Barack Obama before George Floyd‘s memorial service, spoke with the Philonise Floyd (George Floyd’s brother) and offered his support and condolences, The New York Times reported on Sunday.

Speaking with the Times, the Rev. Al Sharpton said that Floyd’s family  feeling comforted for the first time since George Floyd’s death as a result of Obama’s conversation with  Philonise Floyd.

“I want you to have hope. I want you to know you are not alone. I want you to know that Michelle and I will do anything you want me to do,” the former president said, according to Sharpton.

“That was the first time, I think, that the Floyd family really experienced solace since he died,” Sharpton told the Times.

Two other sources confirmed the substance of the call with the Times.  The call occurred in early June just hours before George Floyd’s memorial service was lasted nearly half an hour and was attended by hundreds of activists who have called for changes to law enforcement and policing following his death.

Protests started in the across the country when George Floyd’s death video went viral, which showed the African American on the ground and asking for medical attention while a White officer  knelt on his neck for nearly nine minutes which resulted in his death.

Philonise Floyd also previously told and confirmed to MSNBC that he received a call from President Trump also following George Floyd’s death  but characterized Trump as rude during the call while leaving him few opportunities to speak.

“He didn’t give me an opportunity to even speak,” Philonise Floyd told Sharpton during an interview on the network. “It was hard. I was trying to talk to him, but he just kept, like, pushing me off, like ‘I don’t want to hear what you’re talking about.'”

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“And I just told him, I want justice. I said that I couldn’t believe that they committed a modern-day lynching in broad daylight,”. Floyd added