On Saturday, 1000’s gathered in central London in an indication that was peaceable however ended with small numbers of individuals clashing with mounted police close to Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s Downing Road residence.
London police chief Cressida Dick mentioned 27 officers had been injured in “shocking and completely unacceptable” assaults throughout anti-racism protests over the previous week, together with 14 on Saturday. Two had been severely damage and an officer who fell from her horse underwent surgical procedure.
Authorities had urged protesters to not collect in London once more on Sunday, warning they risked spreading COVID-19, the respiratory illness brought on by the novel coronavirus. However demonstrators nonetheless packed the street outdoors the U.S. Embassy on the south financial institution of the River Thames.
Protesters later marched throughout the river in the direction of parliament and Downing Road, pausing on the bridge to go down on one knee and chant: “Justice, now!” In Parliament Sq., many connected their placards to the railings outdoors parliament.
“Now is the time: we need to do something. We have become so complacent in the UK but the racism that killed George Floyd was born in the UK in terms of colonialism and white supremacy,” mentioned 28-year-old Hermione Lake, who was holding an indication studying: “white silence = violence”.
“We need to completely gut the system … We need massive reform, massive change.”
STATUE TORN DOWN
The Might 25 demise of Floyd, an African American, has sparked demonstrations world wide over police remedy of ethnic minorities. A white police officer detaining him knelt on his neck for practically 9 minutes.
In Bristol in western England, demonstrators tore down a statue of 17th century slave dealer Edward Colston.
Sunday’s London protest was largely peaceable. Individuals waved placards and chanted: “George Floyd!” and “The UK is not innocent!”
Because the numbers dwindled, some protesters clashed with police outdoors the Overseas Workplace after one man was arrested. They threw bottles and flares and chanted: “Black lives matter!” as they tried to push by way of a line of riot police.
One police officer with a bloodied head was helped by colleagues.
Johnson mentioned that whereas folks had the fitting to protest peacefully, the demonstrations had been “subverted by thuggery”.
“They are a betrayal of the cause they purport to serve. Those responsible will be held to account,” he mentioned on Twitter.
Police mentioned 29 folks had been arrested throughout Saturday’s protest in London for offences together with violent dysfunction. An extra 12 folks had been arrested on Sunday in central London, the vast majority of them for public order offences.
Pauline Nandoo, 60, mentioned she had been protesting racism for the reason that 1970s and the photographs of violence on the finish of Saturday’s protest had not deterred her.
“There’s children of all ages and older adults here,” mentioned Nandoo, who was together with her brother and 13-year-old daughter. “They are going to experience what we have experienced, and we have to try to make that not happen.”
Tens of 1000’s be a part of Black Lives Matter protest in London
