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People around the world are demonstrating in solidarity with the U.S. protests that have risen in response to the death of George Floyd while he was in police custody last week.
A viral video showing white Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin kneeling on the African-American man’s neck for several minutes as three other officers stood by has sparked worldwide outrage. Floyd was later pronounced dead soon after the incident, and while all four officers involved were fired, only Chauvin has been arrested and charged.
Demonstrators in front of the U.S. Embassy in Copenhagen, Denmark, on Sunday, May 31, 2020.
Ida Guldbaek Arentsen/Ritzau scanpix via AP
Massive protests have rocked the nation for the past week as a result, lashing out against police violence and fueling a resurgence of the Black Lives Matter movement. And supporters in neighboring Canada, and across the globe in the United Kingdom, German, Italy and New Zealand marched on U.S. embassies over the weekend, according to reports from the BBC and the Guardian, as well as images and video posted to Twitter TWTR, +2.93% and FB, +3.03% Instagram.
Demonstrators supporting Black Lives Matter marched through Toronto on Saturday, while thousands of protesters gathered in Vancouver on Sunday.
Thousands more people gathered in London’s Trafalgar Square on Sunday morning — disobeying Great Britain’s coronavirus lockdown rules prohibiting large gatherings. Many chanted “No justice! No peace!” before marching to the American embassy.
Someone tagged a graffiti memorial on the Berlin Wall showing Floyd and the words “I can’t breathe” over the weekend. The demonstrations in the German capital on Saturday and Sunday also saw protesters marching on the U.S. Embassy.
Protesters in Berlin on Sunday, May 31, 2020 after the violent death of the African-American George Floyd by a white policeman in the U.S.
Bernd von Jutrczenka/dpa via AP
Danish demonstrators also marched through the streets of Copenhagen on Sunday before rallying outside of the American embassy.
And in Milan, a flash mob of kneeling protesters gathered before the U.S. consulate.
About a hundred people also staged a silent protest in solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement before the U.S. Embassy in Dublin on Sunday.
Thousands of New Zealand protesters held rallies and vigils in Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch on Monday.
Three rallies were reportedly planned for Australian cities including Sydney on Tuesday and Melbourne on Saturday — but an organizer canceled Tuesday’s protest after some people threatened to “create havoc and protest against the event.” Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison told Sydney Radio 2GB that “there’s no need to import things … happening in other countries here to Australia,” likely referring to the rioting that has broken out across the U.S. since Floyd was killed.
Police officers on horseback stand next to demonstrators blocking the road outside the Houses of Parliament in central London.
AP
The American protests have overwhelmed cities like Minneapolis and Atlanta over the past several days as the civil unrest has led to rioting and looting in some places, as well as violent clashes with police. Curfews have been put in place in several cities, such as Minneapolis, San Francisco, Birmingham and Indianapolis, and the National Guard has been sent to cities including Philadelphia, Louisville and Milwaukee.
There is also growing concern that the protests will lead to a spike in coronavirus cases, with the mayor of Atlanta warning demonstrators, “If you were out protesting last night, you probably need to go get a COVID test this week.”
