HOUSTON: Mourners packed a Houston church to pay tribute to George Floyd at his hometown funeral on Tuesday, the culmination of a long farewell to the 46-year-old African American whose death in custody ignited global protests against police brutality and racism.

Politicians, civil rights activists and celebrities joined the family to share memories of the man they called a "gentle giant" before his gold casket was due to be conveyed by horse-drawn carriage to his final resting place by his mother's grave.

"We may weep, we may mourn, we'll be comforted and we will find hope," the church's co-pastor Mia Wright said.

Floyd died on May 25 as a white Minneapolis officer pressed a knee into his neck for almost nine minutes, his pleas of "I can't breathe" becoming a rallying cry for protesters.

His death has come to embody fractured relations between communities of color and police in the US and beyond as tens of thousands of protesters have taken to the streets.

The Fountain of Praise church was the final stage in a series of ceremonies paying tribute to Floyd before he is buried.

In a day that capped more than two weeks of tension around the country, the theme inside the building was one of peace and hope as family members and friends prepared to take the podium to share their grief, with civil rights leader the Reverend Al Sharpton due to deliver the eulogy.

Flowers were piled high outside the entrance to the church, attended by part of his family, before a portrait of Floyd whose open casket was visited by more than 6,000 well-wishers on Monday.

Some 500 guests - all masked due the coronavirus pandemic - filled the church, including actors Channing Tatum and Jamie Foxx, as well as boxing champion Floyd Mayweather who is reportedly paying all expenses. The funeral comes after the Minneapolis authorities pledged to dismantle and rebuild the police department in the city where Floyd died during an arrest for allegedly passing a counterfeit $20 bill.