Hindustan Times ST (Mumbai) - Live
Black Lives Matter movement: World joins US in protest
WASHINGTON/SYDNEY/TORONTO: Tens of thousands marched in Australia, Canada, the United Kingdom, Japan, South Korea and elsewhere in solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement as Washington, DC geared up for what’s being anticipated as the largest ever protest in the United States against racism in the wake of the custodial death of George Floyd.
The US is witnessing a weekend of protests described as the broadest in its history, spreading even to smaller cities and small towns, including deeply conservative ones. District of Colombia, which had another night of curfew on Friday, has seen a surging number of protesters, undeterred by the heavy presence of law enforcement. They demonstrated in front of the White House, which has been turned into a fortress with tall fences and concrete barricades and walked peacefully to the Lincoln Memorial nearby. The protests, now into their 12th day, have spread to more locations than the previous high of 650 places during the Women’s Marches of January 2017, just days after President Donald Trump took office, according to a research published in The Washington Post.
Meanwhile, US secretary of state Mike Pompeo accused China of using the unrest in the US to justify denying its own people basic human rights. “As with dictatorships throughout history, no lie is too obscene, so long as it serves the party’s lust for power,” he said.