Reuters, London :
Tens of thousands took to the streets of London on Sunday, rallying for a second day running to condemn police brutality after the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis, with some wearing face masks bearing the slogan “Racism is a virus”.
On Saturday, thousands gathered in central London in a demonstration that was peaceful but ended with small numbers of people clashing with mounted police near Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s Downing Street residence.
London police chief Cressida Dick said 27 officers had been injured in “shocking and completely unacceptable” assaults during anti-racism protests over the past week, including 14 on Saturday. Two were seriously hurt and an officer who fell from her horse underwent surgery.
Authorities had urged protesters not to gather in London again on Sunday, warning they risked spreading COVID-19, the respiratory disease caused by the novel coronavirus. But demonstrators still packed the road outside the U.S. Embassy on the south bank of the River Thames.
Protesters later marched across the river towards parliament and Downing Street, pausing on the bridge to go
Tens of thousands took to the streets of London on Sunday, rallying for a second day running to condemn police brutality after the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis, with some wearing face masks bearing the slogan “Racism is a virus”.
On Saturday, thousands gathered in central London in a demonstration that was peaceful but ended with small numbers of people clashing with mounted police near Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s Downing Street residence.
London police chief Cressida Dick said 27 officers had been injured in “shocking and completely unacceptable” assaults during anti-racism protests over the past week, including 14 on Saturday. Two were seriously hurt and an officer who fell from her horse underwent surgery.
Authorities had urged protesters not to gather in London again on Sunday, warning they risked spreading COVID-19, the respiratory disease caused by the novel coronavirus. But demonstrators still packed the road outside the U.S. Embassy on the south bank of the River Thames.
Protesters later marched across the river towards parliament and Downing Street, pausing on the bridge to go
down on one knee and chant: “Justice, now!” In Parliament Square, many attached their placards to the railings outside parliament.
“Now is the time: we need to do something. We have become so complacent in the UK but the racism that killed George Floyd was born in the UK in terms of colonialism and white supremacy,” said 28-year-old Hermione Lake, who was holding a sign reading: “white silence = violence”.
The May 25 death of Floyd, an African American, has sparked demonstrations around the world over police treatment of ethnic minorities. A white police officer detaining him knelt on his neck for nearly nine minutes.
