Protesters across Europe defy pandemic ban to condemn US racism

Thousands of people across Europe have held protest rallies to condemn racism and police brutality in the US, amid a chorus of growing global outrage at the police killing of African American citizen George Floyd on May 25.

Protests over Floyd’s death, which began in the US city of Minneapolis, have spread to hundreds of cities across the US and the world.

On Wednesday, large protests erupted in several European cities, where people defied the coronavirus pandemic bans to express solidarity with anti-racism protests in the US.

In London, there have been a series of marches and demonstrations. Tens of thousands of people chanting “no justice, no peace, no racist police” marched through central London to express their protest.

In London’s Parliament Square, thousands knelt on one knee, a form of protest known as “taking a knee” famously used by American footballer Colin Kaepernick to denounce police brutality against black people.