Hundreds of mourners gathered at North Central University to pay respects before George Floyd’s gold coffin and a projected mural that said ’I can breathe now’.

Those gathered at Thursday's tribute stood in silence for eight minutes, 46 seconds, the amount of time Floyd was seen to be pinned to the ground as a white police officer knelt on his neck.

Members of Floyd's family, the Reverend Jesse Jackson, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, Minnesota Senator Amy Klobuchar and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey were among several hundred people at the service at North Central University in downtown Minneapolis.

Hundreds attended the service, which also heard a eulogy from civil rights activist Rev Al Sharpton.

It was time to stand up and say ’get your knee off our necks’, he said.

Rev Sharpton also issue a strong message about the protests sweeping across the country in the wake of Floyd’s killing.

"We won't stop," he said. "We're going to keep going until we change the whole system of justice."

In an emotional addresss, he said Floyd's story had echoed that of black people in America.

"What happened to Floyd happens every day in this country, in education, in health services and in every area of American life. It's time for us to stand up in George's name and say: get your knee off our necks," he said.

Earlier in the service lawyer Benjamin Crump had said it was ’not the coronavirus pandemic that killed George Floyd’.

"It was that other pandemic," he said. "The pandemic of racism and discrimination."

Philonise Floyd, one of Floyd's brothers, described how the family had been poor when they were young and had washed their clothes in the sink and dried them in the oven.

"It's crazy man, all these people came to see my brother, it's amazing he touched so many hearts," he said.

Meanwhile, a few blocks away, three police officers charged with aiding and abetting Floyd's murder made their first appearance in court. Bail was set at $1m (£800,000) but would be lowered to $750,000 if they handed in any guns they owned and met other conditions, the judge said.

Derek Chauvin, the officer who continued to kneel on Mr Floyd's neck as he pleaded that he could not breathe, has been charged with second-degree murder and is due to appear in court on Monday.