Protesters across 4 continents come out for Floyd
BERLIN — Tens of thousands of people gathered Saturday in cities across the globe to express anger over the death of George Floyd, a sign the Black Lives Matter movement against police brutality in the U.S. is resonating with wider calls to address racism from Australia to Europe.
In Berlin, where police said 15,000 people rallied on the German capital’s Alexander Square, protesters chanted Floyd’s name and held up placards with slogans such as “Stop police brutality” and “I can’t breathe.”
Floyd, a black man, died after a white Minneapolis police officer pressed a knee on his neck for nearly nine minutes, even after he pleaded for air while handcuffed and stopped moving.
The officer, Derek Chauvin, has been fired and charged with second-degree murder; three other officers who were present have also been fired and charged with aiding and abetting seconddegree murder.
“The killing and these violent physical things that have happened is only just the top of it,” said Lloyd
Lawson, 54, who took part in the Berlin protest. “That’s why you’ve got to start right from the bottom, just like an iceberg.”
Some 20,000 people rallied in Munich, while thousands more took part in protests in Frankfurt and Cologne.
In Paris, several thousand demonstrators ignored a protest ban — issued due to the coronavirus pandemic — and assembled within sight of the U.S. Embassy, kept back by imposing barriers and riot police.
Among the crowd in the French capital was Marie Djedje, 14, a Parisian born on July 14, the French national day.
“I was born French on the day when we celebrate our country. But on a daily basis, I don’t feel that this country accepts me,” she said, holding up a sign that read “Being black is not a crime.”
The teenager said emerging from France’s virus lockdown and seeing officers on patrol again drove home how scared she is of the police — and how she has steeled herself for a life of overcoming obstacles.
“I know that because of my skin color I’m starting out with a handicap, for example, if I want to get a flat or go to a top school,” Marie said. “I know I’m going to have to fight twice as hard as the others. But I’m prepared.”
In central London, tens of thousands staged a rally outside Parliament Square, invoking the memory of Floyd as well as people who died during police encounters or indifference in Britain. Some protesters ignored thickening rain clouds and later headed toward the U.K. Home Office, which oversees law enforcement and immigration, and the U.S. Embassy.