THOUSANDS AT BLACK LIVES MATTER PROTEST
PROTEST: Fionnghuala O’Reilly with fellow protesters Patrick Umukoro and Moses Ehinoma at a demonstration outside the US Embassy in Dublin yesterday.
THOUSANDS of protesters gathered at demonstrations nationwide yesterday to support the Black Lives Matter movement, following the killing of George Floyd in America.
Almost 3,000 flocked to the American Embassy in Dublin to mark his death and highlight racism issues in Ireland. There were similar protests in Galway, Limerick and Belfast.
While those protesting defied the advice of Chief Medical Officer Tony Holohan, most did wear face masks.
In Dublin, organisers chalked an ‘X’ on the roadway every two metres as a guide to social distancing but there were sections of the crowd where people were standing almost shoulder to shoulder.
People cheered loudly for a succession of speakers who criticised racism in the US and Ireland. Direct provision for asylum seekers in Ireland was attacked repeatedly by speakers as “State-supported racism”.
Around 40 gardai observed the protest, which closed off adjoining roads to traffic. One remarked: “It’s very peaceful and very well organised.”
A succession of chants echoed around the streets, including “I can’t breathe” — George Floyd’s final words as he was asphyxiated by a white policeman kneeling on his neck.
A large number of placards were held aloft with messages such as ‘Black Lives Matter’ and ‘White silence is violence’.
Movement of Asylum Seekers in Ireland co-ordinator Lucky Khambule led some of the chanting before addressing the crowd. He sharply criticised the four policemen involved in George Floyd’s death, saying they behaved like “hyenas with their prey”.
He said racism was very much present in Ireland and the direct provision system “puts the knee on the necks” of people who are forced to share cramped accommodation.
A 16-year-old girl who was born in Ireland of West African parents told the crowd she lives in fear of being abused on the streets of Dublin because she is black.
Reeta Wilson, who grew up in an African-American family in Chicago, told the crowd several stories of day-to-day racism that she and her family have experienced.
Also in attendance was Denis Dwyer (38), from Wicklow Town, who was handing out face masks on behalf of the SCOOP Foundation, which supports refugee camps in Syria. “You don’t have to look to far to find racism in Ireland,” he said.
Tobi Bello (23), a Dublin-based artist who came to Ireland with her family when she was three, said she came to protest against racism here. “I experience racism regularly when people call me names and call my 12-year-old brother a ‘n **** r’,” she said.