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Posted by
Olog-hai
on Sun May 31 10:09:55 2020
Definitely internationalist-leftist involvement here.
Evening Standard
London George Floyd protest: Hundreds of activists descend on Trafalgar Square and Parliament Square brandishing placardsKit HerenHundreds of activists have gathered in Trafalgar Square and outside the Houses of Parliament to protest the death of George Floyd in the US, as well as alleged police brutality in the UK.
Protesters could be heard chanting "black lives matter" and "say my name, George Floyd" in the central London squares, in reference to the campaigning civil rights group.
Others held up placards saying "Racism has no place" and "I can't breathe".
The US has been rocked by five days of protest across many cities, after George Floyd, a black man, died in police custody this week in Minneapolis.
Many US protests have been peaceful, but others have turned into violent confrontations between demonstrators and police.
A teenage protestor in Detroit was shot dead by an unknown passerby, while a law enforcement officer in Oakland was also killed after being shot.
Around 1,300 arrests have been made, with 500 of those in California on Thursday.
President Trump has expressed his sorrow at the death of Mr. Floyd, but hit out at protestors and threatened Washington activists with "vicious dogs" and ominous weapons" if they entered the White House.
Derek Chauvin has been charged with third-degree murder and manslaughter after he was filmed kneeling on Mr. Floyd's neck for around eight minutes.
Protestors in London did not appear to be social distancing, with some people warning that such a large crowd could help spread the virus.
One Twitter user said: "Not much social distancing; who would have thought we were in the middle of a pandemic…"
It comes as officials in the US warned about the dangers of protesting amid the coronavirus pandemic.
The mayor of Atlanta, which has been hit by major protests, has warned demonstrators they have put themselves at risk of contracting coronavirus and should get tested.
And as emergency orders imposed at the start of the pandemic are lifted, protests have now been added to the list of concerns about a possible second wave of infections.
Similar issues have been raised in Paris and Hong Kong, where anti-government protesters have accused police of using social distancing rules to break up their rallies.
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