Europe’s Antiracism Protests Clouded By Violence

By Special Correspondent Worthy News

(Worthy News) – Protests, sometimes marred by violence, continue in Europe and elsewhere against perceived racist police brutality following the recent death of the unarmed black man George Floyd in U.S. police custody. The London police chief on Sunday condemned assaults the previous day against police in which at least fourteen police were reportedly injured.

British police mounted on horseback tried to disperse protesters at a Black Lives Matter protest in London. The confrontation in the British capital outside Downing Street began after several demonstrators threw projectiles at security forces in the pouring rain.

One officer was seen falling from a horse. Police later said she received hospital treatment on Saturday, but stressed that her injuries were not life-threatening. However, she was among more than a dozen officers injured in Saturday’s anti-racism protests.

It came amid global outrage over Floyd’s death in police custody in the U.S. city of Minneapolis. British police also noted that 13 officers were injured in protests earlier last week and that several arrests have been made.

In a statement, London police chief Cressida Dick called the assaults “shocking and completely unacceptable.” She also urged protesters to find alternative ways to express their views, which “does not involve coming out on the streets of London” due to the risk of the spread of the coronavirus. But more protests were already underway.

On Saturday, an estimated 15,000 people also gathered in the heart of Manchester, England, about 2,000 people joined in a demonstration in the Welsh capital of Cardiff.

OUTRAGE SPREADING

Outrage over Floyd’s death has also spread to other nations. In Germany, for instance, an estimated 15,000 people rallied in the capital Berlin, some 20,000 people in Munich and thousands more participated in protests in Frankfurt and Cologne.

A video from Berlin also shared on social media, showed police with dogs arresting a black man scuffling with an officer. A Berlin police spokeswoman said the incident happened sometime after the protest ended when officers ordered a group of people, some throwing bottles at passers-by, to disperse.

And in Paris, France, several thousand demonstrators ignored a protest ban — issued due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The death of Floyd also struck a chord with minorities protesting discrimination elsewhere, including in Australia’s cities of Sydney and Brisbane, where demonstrators highlighted indigenous Australians who died in police custody.

Demonstrations against police abuse were also reported in countries such as South Korea, Senegal, and Israel.

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