Protest in London over killing in US
Police move crowd on after mass gathering in square
DEMONSTRATION: Hundreds of people protested in Trafalgar Square against the killing of a black man by police in the US.
The Black Lives Matter demonstration yesterday was organised after George Floyd died when a white officer held him down by pressing a knee into his neck last Monday in Minneapolis.
HUNDREDS of people gathered in Trafalgar Square to protest against the killing of a black man by police in America.
The Black Lives Matter demonstration yesterday was organised after George Floyd died when a white officer held him down by pressing a knee into his neck last Monday in Minneapolis.
Some London protesters, crowded together despite social-distancing restrictions, held signs reading “Justice for George” and “Rest in power”.
The Rev Sally Hitchiner, associate vicar at St Martin-inthe-Fields church on Trafalgar Square, said she could see hundreds gathered for the protest from her workplace.
“I’m very sympathetic to the issue but also surprised to see the strength of emotion that has gathered people together,” she said.
“It’s showing there are people in the UK who care passionately about the situation in the US.
“Clearly they’re not following lockdown and social distancing, but I think there’s a huge amount of passion there and that’s overriding their concerns.
“It’s an issue that requires passion but at the same time there’s a huge amount of risk in what they’re doing.”
Ms Hitchiner said police appeared to be moving the crowd on from the square by early afternoon.
Tens of thousands of people have joined nightly protests across the US since Mr Floyd was killed, with at least 1,600 people arrested in 22 cities as some demonstrations descended into violence.
A police officer has been sacked and charged with thirddegree murder following Mr Floyd’s death.
Earlier, Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said video footage of his death was “very distressing”, but he would not comment on president Donald Trump’s response to the widespread protests sparked by the killing.
The president has been criticised after warning on Twitter that “looting leads to shooting”.
He later attempted to clarify his words by further tweeting on Friday: “Looting leads to shooting, and that’s why a man was shot and killed in Minneapolis on Wednesday night – or look at what just happened in Louisville with 7 people shot. I don’t want this to happen, and that’s what the expression put out last night means.”
Mr Raab told Sky’s Sophy Ridge
on Sunday: “I’m not going to start commenting on the commentary or indeed the press statements that other world leaders make, or indeed the US president.
“What we do know is that the lead suspect has now been charged with murder, there is a federal review and we want to see de-escalation of all of those tensions and Americans come together.”
Later, in an appearance on the BBC’s The Andrew Marr Show, the Foreign Secretary added: “I’ve long kept to the self-imposed guidance not to comment on what President Trump says or indeed other world leaders, it is not really what my job is.”
Violent protests over the death of Mr Floyd and other police killings of black people in the US spread across the country on Saturday from New York to Tulsa to Los Angeles.
Police vehicles were set ablaze and injuries mounted as the nation convulsed through another night of unrest after months of coronavirus lockdowns.
The unrest has since become a national phenomenon as protesters decry years of deaths at police hands.
People in the UK care passionately about the situation in the US.
Sally Hitchiner, associated vicar at St Martinin-the-Fields church, Trafalgar Square.