Police officers on horses are seen as police clash with demonstrators during a Black Lives Matter protest near Downing street in London, following the death of George Floyd who died in police custody in Minneapolis, London, Britain, on 6 June 2020. Reuters/Henry Nicholls
Reuters
LONDON, UK, 6 June 2020
Thousands of people took to the streets in European and Asian cities on Saturday, demonstrating in support of US protests against police brutality.
The rolling, global protests reflect rising anger over police treatment of ethnic minorities, sparked by the 25 May killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis after a white officer detaining him knelt on his neck for nearly nine minutes with fellow officers beside him.
After a largely peaceful protest in London, a few demonstrators near British Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s residence threw bottles at police, and mounted officers charged push protesters back.
Earlier, more than a thousand protesters had marched past the US Embassy, blocking traffic and holding placards.
Many thousands had also crowded into the square outside parliament, holding placards reading “Black Lives Matter”, ignoring government advice to avoid large gatherings due to the risk from the coronavirus.
“I have come down in support of black people who have been ill-treated for many, many, many, many years. It is time for a change,” said 39-year-old primary school teacher Aisha Pemberton.
Police in the German city of Hamburg used pepper spray on protesters and said they were ready to deploy water cannons. One officer was injured, they added.
Several hundred “hooded and aggressive people” had put officers under pressure in the city centre, police said, tweeting: “Attacks on police officers are unacceptable!”
In Paris the authorities banned demonstrations planned outside the US Embassy and on the lawns near the Eiffel Tower.
However, several hundred protesters, some holding “Black Lives Matters” signs, gathered on Place de la Concorde, close to the Embassy. Police had installed a long barrier across the square to prevent access to the embassy, which is also close to the Elysee presidential palace.
In Berlin, demonstrators filled the central Alexanderplatz square, while there was also a protest in Warsaw.
Placards and flags
In Brisbane, one of several Australian cities where rallies were held, police estimated 10,000 people joined a peaceful protest, wearing masks and holding “Black Lives Matter” placards. Many wrapped themselves in indigenous flags, calling for an end to police mistreatment of indigenous Australians.
Banners and slogans have focused not just on George Floyd but on a string of other controversies in different countries as well as mistreatment of minorities in general.
In Sydney, a last-minute court decision overruling a ban imposed because of the coronavirus allowed several thousand people to march, with a heavy police presence.
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 ground.
In Bangkok, activists avoided coronavirus restrictions by going online, asking for video and photos of people wearing black, raising their fists and holding signs, and explaining why they supported the Black Lives Matter movement.
Protesters were expected to gather in Washington for a huge demonstration on Saturday as demonstrations across the United States entered a 12th day.
I saw a banner – “All Black Lives Matter”
because according to data 0.017% of black lives are lost to police, and that’s all the left cares about. 94% black men are murdered by other black men. Don’t they care about those 94%?
Geroge Floyd’s murder by the police needs to be protested and justice served. I fully support the protests but not the rioters.
Watch the videos listed below and please respect the feelings and insights of these black people who would know better than you or me why they continue to suffer.
“George Floyd is neither a martyr or a hero-Candace Owens”
“Black lives matter is a leftist lie”
Conservative Twins
“Ex-Police officer: Policing myths. George Floyd and Riots”
Brandon Tatum
“Sheriff Clark on CNN drops truth bomb”
Lov Song
“Red pilling the black youth” LoV SonG
Yes, many in the black community are waking up.
Tibetans have to stand behind fellow victims. Black Americans have suffered racial injustice for a long time. As fellow oppressed people, we have to support their movement. Their movement is not anti-American, their movement is pro-justice. If they win, it doesn’t mean American loses, it just means America becomes a better nation, more just nation.
A lot of Tibetans on facebook seem to believe that the movement is against American people and American government, and seem therefore to think that helping the black people there is harming the national interest of the US. No such thing, mates. Fundamental base of the national is so strong that such movement can hardly shake the country, it is just a hiccup.
If some Tibetan-Americans get involved in this movement, it doesn’t mean they therefore have signed off on the Tibetan struggle. Supporting Black Americans and supporting the Tibet cause are not mutually exclusive, there is no question of which should be done first. One has to respond as events occur.
Jamyang Norbu’s two daughters have participated in the protest, and sadly, a lot of people criticized them, accusing them of betraying the Tibet cause. No such thing. Such views are regressive.
What will happen if we Tibetans all stay aloof and distant from global events and causes, and focus solely on the Tibet struggle? We will have no allies, we won’t have examples to learn from, we lose the moral argument as a group of people involved in a just cause, we deny our Buddhist faith’s focus on kindness, interconnectedness, and global friendship.
If you reject a global worldview, you will also reject global warming. Both views focus on only the local, the immediate, and regard anything far away inconsequential. This is what happened to Tibetans, totally isolated by…
This phenomenon of world-wide awakening about black deaths is very welcome. The black or dark-skinned people all across the world have suffered. It’s history how the slaves were kidnapped from Africa and brought to work for white men. Uncle Tom’s Cabin is a testimony of the life of a slave in the 1850s in America.
The totally unwarranted violence against the blacks by police across European countries, Australia, and especially in the US is totally unacceptable. They treat them like beasts rather than another human being. This is racism pure and simple and many of the law enforcers are either white supremacists or their sympathisers. Instead of protecting law-abiding citizens they are a danger to the innocent and most vulnerable people of society, the poor black people. Black people have to live in fear of the police of their host countries because of the police racism. They deliberately pick on them and kill them in custody.
In the US the black population is only 12% but the incarceration of blacks is 33% on the national level. In Australia the population of indigenous people are only 3% but the prison population is 50% black. More than 400 custodial deaths since 1991 but not a single prosecution of the police. The white men just don’t care for the well-being of the black people. This must stop.
In Tibet, the Chinese have used racism to vilify the Tibetans and used unheard-of brutality against Tibetans such as using cattle prod in nun’s vagina, the most sensitive part of a woman’s body. Likewise, they have used cattle prods into monks mouth and anus in Chinese prisons. Tibetan nuns like Ngawang Sangdon and Phuntsog Nyidon are victims pf this inhuman treatment who are still alive. We Tibetans have to have our “TIBETAN LIVES MATTER” against the evil Chinese communist Party.
@ Tibet hri, I also urge you to break your comment into paras. It is difficult and annoying to read. Thanks
ཧྲི་TIBET
You are being such a dodo that I am no longer going to read your comments. It’s not easy to read one big paragraph.
Why don’t you break down in a few para. Just hit the Enter button twice to make a new para. I know you are so used to your old ways, but it’s not helpful for the readers.
Good luck.