Mourners and family call for justice at Michael Brown's funeral

FERGUSON, Mo., Aug. 25 (UPI) -- Thousands gathered at Michael Brown's funeral to call for social change in the wake of his death at the hands of police officer Darren Wilson.

The crowd, 4,500 in number, celebrated Brown's life by singing "Every Praise" with the choir at Friendly Temple Missionary Baptist Church.

In a symbolic gesture representing that Brown was unarmed at the time of the shooting, some attendees held their hands up in tribute to the deceased 18-year-old.

Rev. Jesse Jackson, Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Calif., and Rev. Al Sharpton all attended the service Monday.

"Michael Brown does not want to be remembered for riots," Sharpton said in his eulogy. "He wants to be remembered as the one that made America deal with how we are going to police in the United States."

The 2,500-person sanctuary was filled to capacity and the overflow auditorium was also crowded.

Funeral goers called for a re-evaluation of the treatment of African-Americans by law enforcement and for Wilson to be tried for Brown's death.