Thousands of
protesters have joined an anti-racism rally outside the
US Embassy in
London as Black Lives Matter demonstrations take place in cities across the
UK.
Crowds of demonstrators wore face coverings and held placards outside the embassy in Battersea, south-west London, on Sunday, in protest against
police brutality following the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis.
The Metropolitan Police warned drivers of disruption on Nine Elms Lane, while video footage showed protesters flooding the roads outside the embassy.
Protesters then marched on Parliament Square, where
Rapper Stormzy joined demonstrators and listened as the crowd, many of whom were black, spoke about the struggle for equality and the need for solidarity. Free masks, gloves and hand gel were being given out to the thousands of people at the US embassy, with some wearing t-shirts reading “I can’t breathe”.Another protester had written “get your knee off our necks” in luminous ink on the back of his jacket, echoing the words black civil rights leader Rev Al Sharpton who spoke at Floyd’s memorial service earlier this week.
South London painter and decorator Christopher Green, dressed as comic book hero
Black Panther, urged his fellow demonstrators to film any acts of brutality they see.
Holding a Black Lives Matter sign, the 53-year-old said: “I am here to support all the people in America and all those who are being oppressed.
“The most important thing that people have got to do is take out their video phone and document any counter-action with police because without this simple thing with George Floyd, we would probably never have known what happened.”Graffiti was scrawled on the statue of former prime minister Sir Winston Churchill in Parliament Square, with spray paint used so the name plate read Churchill “is a racist”.Meanwhile, London Black Lives Matter organised an online protest via Zoom for those who are unable to attend demonstrations in person.
Shortly after 6pm, the operational patrol unit of Warwickshire Police tweeted that the M6 southbound was temporarily closed after pedestrian protesters blocked the carriageway at Junction 3.
The force said the M6 began to reopen an hour later, as demonstrators “headed into Coventry at Junction 2″.
In Bristol, thousands marched through the city centre after a crowd of at least 5,000 packed into the College Green area to hear from speakers and hold an eight-minute silence.
Police have launched an investigation after protesters pulled down the controversial statue of 17th century slave trader Edward Colston, situated in Bristol’s city centre since 1895, from its plinth.The moment a statue of slave trader Edward Colston toppled into Bristol’s harbour. ‘It’s what he deserves. I’ve been waiting all my life for this moment’ someone told me in the moments after. pic.twitter.com/6juqVrsJ6V— Sarah Turnnidge (@sarah_turnnidge) June 7, 2020Avon and Somerset Police superintendent Andy Bennett said the force would be seeking to identify those involved, while Home Secretary Priti Patel called toppling the statue “utterly disgraceful”.
“I think that is utterly disgraceful and that speaks to the acts of public disorder that actually have now become a distraction from the cause in which people are actually protesting about and trying to empathise and sympathise with,” she said.
“That is completely an unacceptable act and that speaks to the vandalism – again as we saw yesterday in London – but sheer vandalism and disorder completely is unacceptable.”
The bronze memorial has been the subject of an 11,000-strong petition to have it removed.Many activists wore masks and gloves, but the majority were unable to adhere to the two-metre social distancing guidance and were pressed against one another in the city’s narrow streets.
In Edinburgh, protesters including pop superstar Lewis Capaldi gathered in Holyrood Park to listen to an array of speakers, with speeches punctuated by chants of “black lives matter”, “no justice, no peace” and supportive horn honking from passing cars.
Elsewhere, hundreds of people crowded into Manchester’s St Peter’s Square, kneeling in silence as a mark of respect for Floyd, who died after a white police officer held him down by pressing a knee into his neck on May 25.
Following speeches, protesters are expected to march through the city centre for a second day of demonstrating in Manchester.Health Secretary Matt Hancock said it is “undoubtedly a risk” that there will be an increase in Covid-19 cases following the
protests, as he urged people not to gather in groups of more than six people.
Hancock said he supported the activists’ arguments, but said: “Please don’t gather in groups of more than six people because there is also a pandemic that we must address and control.
“And so we’ve got to make the argument, we’ve got to make further progress, on top of the significant progress that has been made in recent years, but we’ve got to do it in a way that’s safe and controls the virus.”People have a right to protest peacefully & while observing social distancing but they have no right to attack the police. These demonstrations have been subverted by thuggery - and they are a betrayal of the cause they purport to serve. Those responsible will be held to account.—
Boris Johnson #StayAlert (@BorisJohnson) June 7, 2020Protesters also took to the streets on Saturday for events held in London, Manchester, Cardiff, Sheffield and Newcastle, among other cities.
Demonstrations in central London were carried out peacefully for much of the afternoon, but disturbances began
BREAKING out at around 6pm outside Downing Street.
Metropolitan Police Commissioner Dame Cressida Dick said 14 officers were injured during clashes with a minority of protesters, while 29 people were arrested.Related... Matt Hancock Names Two Asians When Asked To Identify Black Cabinet Members Minneapolis Mayor Booed After Saying He Wouldn't 'Abolish' Police Department Mounted Police Charge Anti-Racist Demonstrators At Black Lives Matter Protest