Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
Activists call for apology over police’s handling of BLM protest
C A M PA I G N E R S h av e called on the PSNI and J u s t i c e Mi n i s t e r to apologise over Black Lives Matter protest fines.
The Policing Board said the force’s handling of the June 6 demos in Belfast and Derry may have been “unlawful”.
United Against Racism Belfast has welcomed its findings but said there is more to be done to combat “institutional racism” in Northern Ireland.
It stated: “The actions of the PSNI – aggressively policing the Black Lives Matter protests but not reacting the same way to many other social gatherings – betrays that the response we got on June 6 was not about protecting public health.
“It was an attempt to silence the voices of black and minority ethnic activists and their friends, allies and comrades in speaking out against racism.”
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The group also hit out at political support for police fines at the Black Lives Matter protests.
It said: “The institutional racism that gave birth to the PSNI ’s response to peaceful protesters was conceived in Stormont and here the institutions work in perfect unison.”
Reginald Clark, who is originally from the US but now lives in Hillsborough, Co Down, was fined by police for his attendance at the event.
While he has never disputed his fine, Mr Clark hit out at the double standards of police before the Policing Board report was released as they had issued no fines at a number of other gatherings.
He s a i d : “T h e fact the organisers went above and beyond the basic guidelines for PPE and distancing was overlooked.”
Mr Clark would like his £90 fine refunded, adding: “Th e Po li c in g B o ard ’s decision is that there has been a lot of mistakes.”