Death of George Floyd: Protests roll on against ‘worldwide’ racism

ROME/LONDON/WASHINGTON: Demonstrators in Rome held their fists in the air and chanted “No Justice! No Peace!” on Sunday, while in London people defying official warnings not to gather lay down outside the US Embassy as part of a rolling, global anti-racism movement.

The second weekend of demonstrations showed the depth of feeling worldwide over the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis on May 25 after a white officer detaining him knelt on his neck. More protests were also planned across the United States.

Meanwhile, dozens of National Guard troops from South Carolina were seen checking out of their Washington, DC, hotel shortly before President Donald Trump tweeted he was giving the order to withdraw guard forces from the nation’s capital, reported international media on Sunday.

The troops sipped coffee from an adjacent Starbucks and smoked cigarettes Sunday morning as they awaited buses to take them to the airport for a flight home.

Trump ordered guard troops into DC to “dominate” the streets after some protests over the killing of George Floyd turned violent. The city’s mayor called on Trump last week to withdraw outside forces amid days of largely peaceful protests.

BRUSSELS — Several thousand people filled a large square in front of Brussels’ main courthouse to protest racism and the death of George Floyd.

The multiracial crowd that turned out for Sunday’s demonstration included many families with children. Many people wore masks, but it was too crowded for protesters to stick to social distancing guidance.

Protesters held up white roses and placards decrying racism, including one held up by a young black woman that read, “You think you are tired of hearing about racism? We are tired of experiencing it.”

Belgium media outlet RTBF reports that as well as the estimated 10,000 people who rallied in Brussels, smaller crowds also gathered in the cities of Anvers and Gand, where demonstrators observed a silence of 8 minutes and 46 seconds.

LONDON — Anti-racism protesters in the southwestern England port city of Bristol have toppled the statue of a prominent slave trader and dumped it into the harbor.

Footage from local broadcaster ITV News West Country shows demonstrators attach ropes to the statue of Edward Colston before pulling it down on Sunday and eventually dumping it into the harbor. Images on social media show protesters appearing to kneel on the statue’s neck, recalling how a white Minneapolis police officer used his knee to pin down George Floyd’s neck before the handcuffed black man died May 25.

Colston, who was born in 1636, has been a controversial figure in Bristol. Among efforts to “decolonize” the city have been calls to remove his name from its biggest music venue, Colston Hall.

Bristol, an international port, was a center of the slave trade and benefited hugely financially. Britain formally abolished the slave trade in 1807.

SEOUL — BTS’s label says the K-pop super group has donated $1 million to a Black Lives Matter campaign.

Big Hit Entertainment confirmed the band’s donation in an email Sunday. It comes after a Thursday tweet from the band in which it expressed its support for the Black Lives Matter movement and said the band opposes racial discrimination and violence.

BTS’s fans reacted with the hashtag #MatchAMillion on Twitter, vowing to match the group’s donation.

PORTLAND — Police in Portland, Oregon, say they arrested least 50 people after things like balloons of paint and full cans of beverages were thrown at officers following George Floyd protests.

Authorities say most of the demonstrations Saturday were peaceful. However, police say in a news release that several hundred people gathered downtown Saturday night, pushed on fencing and threw fireworks at officers. Police say two deputies were injured. Following orders to disperse, police declared the gathering an unlawful assembly.

MILAN — A few thousand people gathered outside the central train station in Italy’s financial capital, Milan, to protest racism and the recent death of George Floyd in Minneapolis. Many in the crowd Sunday were migrants or the children of migrants from Africa. Organizers told participants that in Italy, the Black Lives Matter slogan means avoiding “seeing black bodies as if they’re foreigners” and not as citizens. One said it means not delaying legislative reform to make it easier to receive citizenship.

Many protesters wore masks or disposable gloves, and one of the organizers used a loudspeaker to remind people not to share objects and to stay a safe distance apart. Italy has greatly eased its coronavirus restrictions in recent weeks as the rate of contagion steadily slowed.

HOUSTON — Houston’s police chief says the body of George Floyd has arrived in Texas for a final memorial service and funeral.

Police Chief Art Acevedo tweeted early Sunday that Floyd’s family also arrived safely. A six-hour viewing for Floyd is planned for Monday in Houston, followed by funeral services and burial Tuesday in the suburb of Pearland.

LONDON — Protesters outside the US embassy in London want to make it clear that their message is not just meant for American ears.

Thousands gathered Sunday for a second straight day of protests outside the gleaming glass building to protest against racial injustice following the May 25 death of George Floyd in Minneapolis. London-based student Darcy Bourne says she thinks everyone knows the protest is about more than just Floyd, but about racism around the world. Another student, Steffi Cox, says racism is a global issue and that people need to “come together and make sure everyone is educated.”

SEATTLE — Seattle City Council members have sharply criticized the mayor and police chief over the police use of flash-bang grenades and pepper spray to disperse protesters after the two said they were trying to deescalate tensions.

Authorities say rocks, bottles and explosives were thrown at officers in the city’s Capitol Hill neighborhood Saturday night, and police tweeted that several officers were injured by “improvised explosives. The unrest came on the ninth consecutive day of George Floyd protests in the city and followed a large, peaceful demonstration earlier in which medical workers demonstrated against racism and police brutality.

City Council President Lorena Gonzalez tweeted Saturday night that she was “outraged” by the police response. And City Councilmember Teresa Mosqueda urged Durkan and Best to “stop traumatizing protesters and neighbors.”

BUDAPEST, Hungary — Hundreds of people have attended a peaceful rally outside the U.S. embassy in Budapest to express their solidarity with the Black Lives Matter protests in the US sparked by the death of George Floyd.

Speeches and songs like Sam Cooke’s “A Change Is Gonna Come” and Bob Marley’s “Redemption Song” were heard on Liberty Square before the crowd knelt for 8 minutes and 46 seconds. That was the amount of time that a white Minneapolis police officer kept his knee on the the neck of Floyd, a handcuffed black man who pleaded for air before eventually going motionless during his May 25 arrest for suspicion of using a counterfeit bill at a shop. The demonstration was one of many held throughout the world this weekend over Floyd’s death and institutional racism.

MADRID — Several thousand people have gathered in Spain’s main cities to show their support for the Black Lives Matter protests in the United States and to denounce racial discrimination in Europe.

A few thousand protesters gathered around the US embassy in Madrid on Sunday. Many carried homemade signs reading “Black Lives Matter,” “Human rights for all” and “Silence is pro-racist.” Protesters chanted “Police murderers!” and “No justice, no peace!” Police were present but the atmosphere remained peaceful. Social distancing was difficult, however everyone wore a mask. Thousands also filled a central square in Barcelona and there were other protests called for in smaller cities.

LONDON — Thousands of people are congregating around the US embassy in London to protest against racial injustice in the wake of the brutal killing of George Floyd last month.

Protesters gathered Sunday for a second day running around the gleaming new glass building on Nine Elms Lane, just south of the River Thames. There are concerns that Sunday’s demonstration could take a violent turn, following clashes on Saturday at another demonstration in central London that saw 14 police officers injured.

Sadiq Khan, the mayor of London, says violence is “simply not acceptable” and has urged those protesting to do so lawfully while also maintaining social distancing of remaining 2 meters apart.

Hundreds of people also formed a densely packed crowd in a square in central Manchester, kneeling in silence as a mark of respect for George Floyd.

In Rome’s sprawling People’s Square, thousands of demonstrators turned out for the city’s first major rally against racism.

With a great majority wearing masks to protect themselves against the coronavirus, participants listened to speeches for several hours and held up hand-made placards reading “Black Lives Matter” and “It’s a White Problem.” At one point the protesters, most of them young and some with children or young siblings, kneeled and raised their fists in solidarity with those fighting racism.

“It’s quite unfortunate, you know, in this current 21st century that people of color are being treated as if they are lepers,” said 26-year-old Ghanian Abdul Nassir, who was at the rally and is studying in Rome for a master’s degree in business management. He said he occasionally has felt racist attitudes, notably when riding the subway.

New York City’s mayor is lifting the city’s curfew ahead of schedule, spurred on by protests against police brutality.

The 8 p.m. citywide curfew, New York’s first in decades, had been set to remain in effect through at least Sunday, with the city planning to lift it at the same time it enters the first phase of reopening after more than two months of a coronavirus shutdown.

But Mayor Bill de Blasio announced Sunday morning in a tweet that the curfew will end “effective immediately. “Yesterday and last night we saw the very best of our city,” de Blasio tweeted “Tomorrow we take the first big step to restart.”

The move followed New York City police pulling back on enforcing the curfew Saturday as thousands took to the streets and parks to protest police brutality, sparked by the May 25 death of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police.

More than two hours after the curfew had passed Saturday night, groups of several hundred demonstrators continued to march in Manhattan and Brooklyn, while police monitored them but took a hands-off approach.

BERLIN — After a day of anti-racism protests across Europe, Berlin police said 93 people were detained in connection with a demonstration in the German capital — most of them after the main rally had ended.

More anti-racism demonstrations were planned for Sunday across the UK, including one outside the US Embassy, just south of the River Thames. At least 15,000 people had rallied peacefully in Berlin on Saturday in response to the May 25 death of American George Floyd, which has triggered global protests against racism and police brutality.

Police said several officers and one press photographer were injured in Berlin when bottles and rocks were thrown from a crowd that had gathered despite police orders to clear the city’s Alexander Square an hour after the demonstration was over. Berlin police said 28 officers suffered minor injuries in the scuffles.

HONG KONG — About 20 people protested in Hong Kong to show solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement at a rally Sunday outside the US consulate in the semi-autonomous Chinese city. “It’s a global issue,” said Quinland Anderson, a 28-year-old British citizen living in Hong Kong. “We have to remind ourselves, despite all we see going on in the US and in the other parts of the world, black lives do indeed matter.”

RICHMOND, Va. — In the former capital of the Confederacy, demonstrators toppled a statue of Gen. Williams Carter Wickham from its pedestal after a day of mostly peaceful demonstrations across the commonwealth.

The Richmond Times-Dispatch reports that most of the demonstrators had already dispersed when a rope was tied around the Confederate statue, which has stood since 1891 in Richmond’s Monroe Park, which is surrounded by the Virginia Commonwealth University campus. In 2017, some of Wickham’s descendants urged the city to remove the statue. A Richmond police spokeswoman didn’t know if there were any arrests and the extent of any damage.

Confederate monuments are a major flashpoint in Virginia. Last week, Gov. Ralph Northam announced that a state-owned statue of former Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee would be removed from its perch on the famed Monument Avenue “as soon as possible.”