TOP OF THE HOUR:

— George Floyd, whose death energized a movement, to be buried outside Houston.

— Portland, Oregon mayor to redirect $7 million from the police budget to other areas.

— National Guard members at Washington protests test positive for coronavirus.

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PEARLAND, Texas — George Floyd’s body is on the final leg of a journey that has crossed the U.S., allowing mourners to pay tribute and share in his legacy.

A horse-drawn carriage carried his body into a cemetery in the Houston suburb of Pearland on Tuesday. Two white horses pulled it, and the gold-colored casket could be seen inside the carriage.

Houston Police Chief Art Acevedo was among people at the head of the procession, leading it into the cemetery on foot. Cars and buses followed. Many of the vehicles honked their horns as they entered.

Hundreds of people had been gathered near the cemetery for hours awaiting the arrival. Some listened to the funeral being broadcast from a church in Houston. Later, people played protest songs including Public Enemy’s “Fight the Power” and Marvin Gaye’s “What’s Going On.”

A brass band played as the casket was taken inside a mausoleum where Floyd will be buried in a private service for family.

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PORTLAND, Ore. — Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler said Tuesday he will make policing changes that include ending the use of patrol officers on public transit and redirecting $7 million from the police budget to other areas.

Wheeler said in a news conference he also plans to dissolve the police gun violence reduction unit, ban chokeholds and reform the use of consent searches in traffic stops. He said bold action is necessary in the wake of nationwide protests against the death of George Floyd in police custody in Minneapolis on Memorial Day.

Wheeler said officers will be pulled from public transit by the end of the year and a more trusted police accountability panel will be created. The current Independent Police Review committee is under the city auditor’s office.

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FORT WORTH, Texas — Officials in two North Texas counties have voted to remove Confederate monuments from courthouse grounds.

Commissioners of Tarrant and Denton counties voted Tuesday to remove the monuments, which were erected last century by the United Daughters of the Confederacy.

Tarrant commissioners voted 4-0 with one abstention for removal. Commissioner Roy Brooks proposed the removal, saying he “would argue that it’s not a memorial at all, rather that it was erected in 1953 as a reminder to the black citizens of this county and of this state that the rules of Jim Crow were still in effect.”

The Denton County monument was erected in 1918.

Commissioners of both counties said their actions were taken to promote racial harmony amid protests of the killing of George Floyd, a black man, by a white Minneapolis police officer.

Both counties said their monuments would be placed in storage until alternate sites could be found.

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PHOENIX -- Police Chief Jeri Williams announced Tuesday that the Phoenix Police Department will immediately suspend training and use of the chokehold.

Williams, who is black, says the department can’t function “without the trust of our community, and there are adjustments we can make to strengthen that trust.”

Williams says her organization is willing to learn and evolve, listen to the community and become better, and she says she’s confident the change in policy moves it closer to that goal.

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TROY, Ala. —Troy University has fired its campus police chief over comments he made on social media about the police killing of George Floyd in Minnesota.

Troy University Chancellor Jack Hawkins says in a statement released on the school’s social media accounts that statements by John McCall didn’t reflect the university’s values. He says officials lost confidence in McCall’s ability to lead the Police Department.

News outlets report that McCall wrote in a Facebook post that Floyd “absolutely” helped cause his own death.

One former Minneapolis police officer is charged with murder in Floyd’s death and three others are charged with aiding in his death.

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DENVER — A sweeping police accountability bill introduced amid protests over the death of George Floyd has passed the Colorado state Senate with overwhelming bipartisan support.

Senators from both parties spoke at length on Tuesday about the compromises that went into the bill before backing it in a 32-1 vote.

The bill was changed in response to some issues raised by law enforcement. It would allow police officers to be sued for misconduct by getting rid of the qualified immunity defense that generally protects government workers from lawsuits. It also requires all local and Colorado State Patrol officers to be equipped with body cameras by July 2023.

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HOUSTON — The funeral of George Floyd has ended, and his casket is on its way to a Texas cemetery for burial.

After emotional tributes from Floyd’s family, a song from Ne-Yo, a recorded message from Joe Biden and a eulogy from the Rev. Al Sharpton, Floyd’s golden casket was carried on the shoulders of pall bearers out of Fountain of Praise church in Houston.

Many in the family section of the church held out their hands in the direction of the casket as it departed, as the hymn “I Shall Wear a Crown” rang through the church. Others held up their phones to film it.

The more than 500 face-masked mourners in the congregation for the four-hour service included actors Jamie Foxx and Channing Tatum, and J.J. Watt of the NFL’s Houston Texans.

The service and upcoming burial bring to a close nearly a week of memorials and remembrances of Floyd, whose death at the hands of police in Minneapolis inspired protests around the world.

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WASHINGTON — Members of the D.C. National Guard have tested positive for COVID-19 in the wake of the massive protests across the city last week over the death of George Floyd.

Guard spokeswoman Lt. Col. Brooke Davis says they will not release the exact number of infected troops.

But U.S. officials say they believe it is not a large number, at least so far. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to release the information publicly.

While some Guard troops responding to the protests wore protective equipment, most were not wearing masks and it was largely impossible to maintain any social distancing.

Davis said in a statement that unit commanders were responsible for ensuring their troops adhered to guidelines calling for Guard members to wear protective equipment and maintain social distancing where practical.

Officials said about 5,000 Guard members, including troops from 11 states, were in the nation’s capital for the protests.

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CHARLOTTE, N.C. — A main thoroughfare in Charlotte was painted with bright colors Tuesday morning as dozens of volunteers and artists traced 16 large letters spelling out “Black Lives Matter.”

Charlotte follows Washington, D.C. and other American cities calling for an end to police brutality and racial injustice in the aftermath of the death of George Floyd while in police custody in Minneapolis on Memorial Day.

Charlotte resident D’ann Redd said she never thought she’d see something like the mural in her southern city. She said it was good to see the community join together and say black lives matter in a very public way and to have people connected.

The project was approved by the City of Charlotte.

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SAN DIEGO — The San Diego City Council declined calls to cut police funding and has approved a city budget that includes an increase for the department.

The decision came at a meeting Monday in which the majority of some 400 callers and emails from more than 4,000 people urged rejection of the mayor’s plan to increase the police budget by $27 million to $566 million.

The San Diego Union-Tribune reports the council approved the budget plan on an 8-1 vote.

The pressure to cut the police budget echoed calls nationwide for defunding or cutting law enforcement budgets in protest of the death of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police on Memorial Day.

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PEARLAND, Texas -- People are being allowed to walk up to the mausoleum in suburban Houston where George Floyd’s body is set to be entombed.

Some people took photos Tuesday as they got a closer look at the site in the cemetery in Pearland, Texas. Floyd’s funeral was ongoing at a church in Houston, where he lived most of his life. A private service at the cemetery was set to be held for Floyd’s family after his casket arrives. Inside the mausoleum, a small podium was set up along with 24 chairs in three rows. Outside the mausoleum in the back, another 42 chairs were set up underneath a tent.

___ HOUSTON — Pastor Steve Wells told mourners at George Floyd’s funeral that they have “awakened the conscience of a nation.”

Wells thanked the audience at the predominantly black Fountain of Praise church in Houston on Tuesday for inviting him, a white speaker, to address them.

He drew laughs and shouts when he said they might have to be forgiven for leaving white people off the program and drew a standing ovation when he said predominantly white churches like his must act now, that their conscience has been stirred, to end the racism he says killed Floyd.

Another pastor, Ralph Douglas West Sr., compared Floyd to Martin Luther King Jr. and Barack Obama, saying all three were born in obscurity but went on to change the world.

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ROME — Dozens of young Catholics gathered at nightfall on a small island in the Tiber River in Rome to pray for peaceful co-existence in the United States.

Then, clutching lit candles, participants knelt on one knee in the tiny cobblestone square outside St. Bartholomew’s Basilica during several minutes of silence Tuesday evening as George Floyd’s funeral was taking place in Houston.

The brief commemoration, called to stress the need to combat all forms of racism, social discrimination and violence, was organized by Young People for Peace. The youth movement has ties to a Rome-based Catholic organization with close relations with the Vatican.

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HOUSTON — Grammy-winning singer Ne-Yo said George Floyd’s death was a sacrifice that “changed the world” before performing during his memorial service.

Ne-Yo shed tears on Tuesday while singing a rendition of G.C. Cameron’s “It’s So Hard to Say Goodbye to Yesterday.” The singer paused on a few occasions to collect himself during his performance.

“Fifty states are protesting at the same time,” he said. “This man changed the world. He changed the world for the better. I would like to personally thank George Floyd for his sacrifice, so that my kids could be all right later on. I appreciate the sacrifice. I genuinely do.”

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HOUSTON -- The family of George Floyd gave him tearful tributes and made impassioned demands for justice at his funeral.

The group of family members and close friends gathered around the podium at Fountain of Praise church in Houston and stepped up one at a time to talk about about their lost loved one.

Aunt Kathleen McGee laughed as she remembered the child family knew as Perry Jr., calling him a “pesky little rascal, but we loved him.”

Sister LaTonya Floyd was almost too overwhelmed to talk, wiping away tears and lowering her face mask to say “I’m going to miss my brother a whole lot and I love you. And I thank God for giving me my own personal Superman.”

Brooke Williams, a niece of Floyd, called for change to what she called “a corrupt and broken system.”

Two brothers and a close friend also spoke to mourn Floyd, whose death last month after a Minneapolis police officer put his knee on his neck for over eight minutes has inspired worldwide protests.

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HOUSTON — Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee says George Floyd’s death ignited a plethora of protests around the world involving people of different races.

Lee said during Floyd’s memorial service on Tuesday that his death helped shine a light on police brutality against unarmed black men and women.

“I want to acknowledge those young marchers in the streets,” she said. “Many of them could not be in this place. They are black and brown, they are Asian. They are white. They are protesting and marching. And I’m saying as a momma, ‘I hear your cry.’ That is what George Floyd wanted us to know.”

Lee said she is unable to remove the Floyd’s last words “I can’t breathe” from her head. But the congresswoman said his death served a purpose.

“His assignment turned into a purpose,” she said. “And that purpose was heard around the world. There are people rising up that will never sit down until you get justice.”

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PEARLAND, Texas — Hundreds of people have lined up in the Texas heat along a road in suburban Houston that leads to the cemetery where George Floyd will be buried.

Many arrived hours ahead of time in Pearland, Texas, to get a spot Tuesday as they waited for the procession to come by after Floyd’s funeral ends at a church in Houston.

There was no shade along the procession route in Pearland and a heat advisory was issued for the area with temperatures in the 90s.

Marcus Brooks and a group of friends and graduates of Jack Yates High School, where Floyd graduated, set up a tent by the grassy side of the road. The 47-year-old Brooks said he had the tent specially created in crimson and gold, the colors of Yates High School, where Floyd played tight end. Past and present members of the football team signed the tent.

“We’re out here for a purpose,” Brooks said. “That purpose is because first of all he’s our brother. Second, we want to see change. I don’t want to see any black man, any man, but most definitely not a black man sitting on the ground in the hands of bad police.”