Police arrest five after assault on officers as thousands of Black Lives Matter activists protest in London
Five people were arrested in London on Sunday as thousands of Black Lives Matter protesters peacefully marched on the US Embassy in London, with hundreds more taking to the streets of Cardiff and Manchester, to demonstrate against the killing of George Floyd.
Chants of, ‘I can’t breathe,’ rebounded across the Thames this afternoon, the words Floyd was heard gasping before his death as a white police officer knelt on his neck in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on Monday.
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They defied the ban on mass gatherings to rally at Trafalgar Square before making their way to the gates of Downing Street and then south of the river towards the US Embassy.
Three of the five were arrested for breaching coronavirus legislation, said police, while the other two were detained for assaulting officers.
In a statement, the Metropolitan Police said: ‘Police have made five arrests during the gathering that took place outside the US Embassy earlier today. Three arrests were for breaches of COVID legislation and two were for assault on police. Those arrested are aged between 17-25 years. All have been taken into police custody.’
The capital wasn’t the only site of protests, with activists outside Cardiff Castle in Wales holding placards which said, ‘The UK is not innocent,’ and in Manchester hundreds flocked to show their solidarity in St. Peter’s Square.
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Among those chanting at police officers guarding the gates of Number 10 was someone waving the black and red flag of Antifa (anti-fascist). Donald Trump has accused the militant left-wingers of fomenting anarchist violence during the riots in the States.
Dozens of American cities have been set ablaze over the last week amid deadly clashes with police officers over the killing of Floyd, whose death is seen as a symbol of systemic police brutality against African-Americans.
Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab today appealed for the US not to ‘tear itself apart’ and said that the Floyd case was ‘very distressing’.
Source: Daily Mail
The post Police arrest five after assault on officers as thousands of Black Lives Matter activists protest in London appeared first on Vanguard News.
by David O Royal via Vanguard News https://ift.tt/3gC9NJj Wikipedia Our Friends From Virginia
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