Shame on you
#BLACKLIVESMATTER
The flashpoints of violence in Glasgow yesterday and in London on Saturday have nothing to do with Black Lives Matter or protecting statues from being toppled.
The attacks on the police and the intimidation of journalists and rival demonstrators is just thuggery and should be called out as such.
Those who sought to “protect” the Churchill statue in Westminster made Nazi salutes beneath the monument to the man who led the war against Nazism.
The Glasgow neds who skirmished with police yesterday did so apparently to defend the statue and the honour of Sir Robert Peel, the father of modern policing.
The demos were nothing to do with history and more to do with an excuse for right-wing neanderthals to start a fight.
The job of policing in a pandemic is tough enough without demonstrations turning to violence.
Street violence and attacks on property have no place in democracy, whether it be hard-right or hard-left in origin.
We bring about change with the strength of our arguments, not the force of our fists.
ARREST WAS DEADLY Rolfe tests Rayshard
BY CHRISTOPHER BUCKTIN CROWDS burned a US diner at the spot where white police shot dead another unarmed black man.
Less than three weeks after the killing of George Floyd by Minneapolis police sparked global protests, the new horror threatened to plunge America back into violence and demonstrations.
Police fired tear gas and flash grenades at crowds who descended on the Wendy’s drivethru in Atlanta, Georgia, where Rayshard Brooks was shot in the back on Friday night.
At least 36 protesters were arrested in the unrest early yesterday.
There were reports crowds fled as 40 shots were fired from a car.
Police had been called after Rayshard fell asleep at the wheel of his car, blocking the queue to the diner and forcing other cars to drive round him. Two officers tried to arrest him when he failed a “sobriety” test.
Rayshard, 27, resisted and video of the incident shows a policeman wrestling him to the ground. When he got to his feet, he grabbed the Taser. The other officer shot him as he fled. Both officers gave chase and within seconds more shots were fired at Rayshard .
He was taken to hospital, and died on the operating table.
Yesterday, Garrett Rolfe, the officer who allegedly shot Rayshard, was sacked while his partner Devin Bronsan was placed on administrative duty.
Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms said of the killing: “I do not believe this [incident] justified the use of deadly force.”
Police Chief Erika Shields resigned “out of a deep and abiding love for this city and this department.”.
George, 46, died after being arrested in Minneapolis when white officer Derek Chauvin, 44, pressed his knee into his neck for almost nine minutes.
Chauvin and three colleagues, were fired after footage of the arrest emerged. Chauvin has since been charged with murder.
Officer Garrett Rolfe
BY JOHN DINGWALL reporters@dailyrecord.co.uk
POLICE in riot gear were forced to separate missile-throwing thugs amid disturbing scenes on the streets of Glasgow yesterday.
First Minister Nicola Sturgeon branded the behaviour “utterly shameful”.
Hundreds of protestors, including “football risk groups”, filled George Square objecting to demands for the removal of a statue of Met Police founder Sir Robert Peel.
A planned gathering by the Glasgow Youth Art Collective against the landmark in support of the Black Lives Matter movement had been cancelled but counter-protestors still turned up.
They gathered to “protect the statues” from graffiti and damage but many created a menacing atmosphere.
At one stage, a rival group walked down nearby Hanover Street heading towards the square, sparking a flashpoint.
Missiles could be seen flying between the two groups as police, with their batons drawn, formed a line across the street.
Officers, many wearing riot gear, could be seen sprinting up the road to get between the two groups and keep them apart.
Amid the sound of blaring sirens, more officers on horseback reinforced the ranks as cops on motorbikes sealed off the top of the street. A police helicopter was deployed and could be seen flying over the city centre.
The force later said they do not believe any clashes in Glasgow are related to the Black Lives Matter movement, which has been protesting across the country in recent weeks after the death in police custody of dad George Floyd, 46, in Minneapolis. Press and photographers covering yesterday’s events were repeatedly told by protesters to stop taking pictures and video, while passers-by - including young girls, elderly people and cyclists - were verbally abused. Police repeatedly had to intervene when the morons targeted innocent individuals at