Angry marchers from Sydney to London flay US police brutality

LONDON: Taking a knee, banging drums and ignoring social distancing measures, outraged protesters from Sydney to London on Saturday kicked off a weekend of global rallies against racism and police brutality.

The death at police hands of George Floyd, an unarmed black man in the US state of Minnesota, has brought tens of thousands out onto the streets during a pandemic that is ebbing in Asia and Europe but still spreading in other parts of the world.

“It is time to burn down institutional racism,” one speaker shouted through a megaphone at a hooting crowd of thousands outside the parliament building in London.

“Silence is violence,” the throng shouted back in the rain.

Officials around the world have been trying to balance understanding at people’s pent-up anger with warnings about the dangers of a disease that has officially claimed nearly 400,000 lives globally.

Yet tens of thousands of Australians defied Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s call to “find a better way,” and thousands more in Britain ignored the health minister’s warning that the “coronavirus remains a real threat”.

“We want justice! We want to breathe!” hundreds chanted in Tunis, as demonstrations convulsing US cities spilled out across the world.

“Are you sure of your silence,” asked a poster of a man laying a pink rose at a memorial set up outside the president’s office in Pretoria, South Africa.

In Sydney, aborigines performed a traditional smoking ceremony at the start of a “Black Lives Matter” protest, which was sanctioned at the last minute after initially being banned on health grounds.

Many held up signs and wore face masks marked up “I can’t breathe” − the words Floyd kept repeating while handcuffed as a policeman knelt on his neck.

One placard simply read “8:46” − the amount of time the 46-year-old was pinned to the ground by the white officer before his death.

In Paris, riot police held back a crowd of several thousand who gathered outside the US embassy compound for an unsanctioned protest.

“I find it scandalous that all these injustices go unpunished,” Dior, a 21-year-old SenegaleseIvorian student, said amidst crowds holding up placards reading “Being black is not a crime” and “Our police are assassins”.

The French rallies spread to smaller cities, while in Germany it included football players from Bayern Munich, who warmed up in “Red card to racism #Blacklivesmatter” shirts.

“White silence is violence,” the chant went up in a crowd of 10,000 in Berlin.

“How many more?” asked a poster held up in a crowd of thousands in Frankfurt.

In North Carolina, a long line of cars snaked its way down a highway as mourners arrived for a viewing and memorial service at a church not far from Floyd’s hometown.

And tens of thousands were again expected in Washington, where Mayor Muriel Bowse renamed the area outside the White House “Black Lives Matter Plaza”.

The protests have even resonated in war-scar red countries such as Iraq, where the “American Revolts” and the Arabic phrase for “We want to breathe, too” hashtags are spreading on social media.

In Tokyo, marchers protested against what they said was police mistreatment of a Kurdish man who says he was stopped while driving and shoved to the ground. Organisers said they were also marching in support of the Black Lives Matter movement.

“I want to show that there’s racism in Japan now,” said 17-year-old high school student Wakaba, who declined to give her family name.

In Seoul, dozens of South Korean activists and foreign residents gathered, some wearing black masks with “can’t breathe” in Korean, echoing George Floyd’s final words as he lay on the pavement. With coronavirus pandemic restrictions in Bangkok, activists went online, asking for video and photos of people wearing black, raising their fists and holding signs, and explaining why they “stand united behind Black Lives Matter.”

Meanwhile, two Buffalo police officers were arraigned on Saturday on felony assault charges after a viral video showed them shoving an elderly protestor who remains critically injured after falling at a march against racism.

Officers Aaron Torgalski, 39, and Robert McCabe, 32, were part of a unit in tactical gear enforcing an 8 p.m. curfew on Thursday during the protest involving long-time community activist Martin Gugino, 75, Erie County District Attorney John Flynn said in a statement.

“The two defendants, who are Buffalo Police officers, pushed a protestor outside of City Hall, causing him to fall and hit his head on the sidewalk,” Flynn said.

Both pleaded not guilty to second-degree assault during the virtual arraignment before Buffalo City Court Judge Craig D. Hannah. They were released on their own recognizance and are due back in court on July 20.

If convicted of the charge, they face up to 7 years in prison.