In this drone image, a mural of US representative John Lewis is seen on the side of a building on Saturday in Atlanta, Georgia. Photo: AFP

US flags were flown at half-staff on Saturday at the White House, federal properties and several states as politicians and activists voiced an outpouring of grief and appreciation for civil rights career of US representative John Lewis, who died on Friday of pancreatic cancer at age 80.

The African-American icon marched with Martin Luther King Jr., was nearly beaten to death by police, and later as a sitting congressman was arrested multiple times for protesting genocide or leading immigration reform sit-ins.

"From a historical standpoint, there are few who are able to become giants," Martin Luther King III, who is the oldest son of the civil rights icon, told CNN. 

"John Lewis really became a giant through his examples that he set for all of us." 

Lewis was a sharecropper's son whose fights for justice helped define an era, and whose moral authority as an indomitable elder statesman left a permanent imprint in Congress.

He was diagnosed with stage 4 pancreatic cancer in late 2019.

White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany tweeted on Saturday that "Rep. John Lewis was an icon of the civil rights movement, and he leaves an enduring legacy that will never be forgotten. We hold his family in our prayers, as we remember Rep. John Lewis' incredible contributions to our country."

Former US president Barack Obama mourned that "he loved this country so much that he risked his life and his blood so that it might live up to its promise. And through the decades, he not only gave all of himself to the cause of freedom and justice, but inspired generations that followed to try to live up to his example."

US President Donald Trump said: "Saddened to hear the news of civil rights hero John Lewis passing. Melania and I send our prayers to he and his family."

Lewis was just 21 when he became a founding member of the Freedom Riders, who fought segregation of the US transportation system in the early 1960s, eventually becoming one of the nation's most powerful voices for justice and equality.

Reuters - AFP