Andre Hill was buried in Columbus on Tuesday.
His murder by a now former Columbus police officer came less than three weeks after a Franklin County MP shot Casey Goodson Jr. The shootings of white officers firing on black men have sparked outrage in Columbus after a year of protests against racism and police brutality.
The Tuesday service at the First Church of God in southeast Columbus brought together friends and family members and a number of elected officials.
Andre Hill was lying in an open coffin below the pulpit when a stream of people came to pay their final respects. Nearby hung a blanket with the faces of other blacks killed by the police. The same church held funeral services for Casey Goodson Jr. last month.
Columbus City Council President Shannon Hardin signaled his support for Andre’s Law, a law proposed by the family for firefighters who cannot activate their body cameras or provide first aid.
“If we are our brother’s keeper, then as a community we need justice for Andre,” Hardin said. “If we are our brother’s keeper, we will not ignore these injustices against black men and black women. If we are our brother’s keeper, we as a community must promote ‘Andre’s Law’.”
Rep. Erica Crawley (D-Columbus) committed to similar laws at the state level.
Congresswoman Joyce Beatty (D-Columbus) said Hill’s life will have a lasting impact on the community.
“His death will not just be a rally for protests,” said Beatty. “His death will not be in vain, his memory will not be forgotten, his life will be celebrated instead.”
Reverend Al Sharpton delivered the laudatory speech and hammered away the message “no more excuses”.
He argued that officers who swore to protect and serve should be of a higher standard.
“You are not a normal person, you are hired to be your brother’s keeper – not your brother’s murderer,” cried Sharpton. “If you hadn’t done justice to the badge, you shouldn’t have put it on.”
In a post-service press conference, Sharpton reiterated calls by Hill’s family members to pursue the officer who shot him during a non-emergency call on December 22nd.
“These police forces must be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law,” Sharpton said. “We cannot normalize the fact that the police shoot unarmed men because of their imagination.”
Hill’s body was then taken in a long procession to the Brentnell neighborhood. His coffin was transferred to a horse-drawn carriage and taken to Brentnell Rec Center before being laid to rest. About a hundred people were in the cold slogans when Hill arrived.
Family members have repeatedly described how central the recreation center was to Hill’s life. Here he made friends and learned to play chess.
During the service, Hill’s friend Tracy Smith said what he noticed about Hill was his deep, booming voice. He remembered meeting him as a teenager and joked that Hill, then 14, was at least 30 years old. Smith said when they went to the recreation center together, he noticed that Hill was never involved in fights, had never fought, and was never disrespectful.
“If you grew up in Brentnell like me,” said Smith, “we always fought, we always fought, we always did things we had nothing to do with. But I had that voice again, the voice of reason, and that was Andre Hill. “
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