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Black Lives Matter protesters marched through Manchester in memory of George Floyd yesterday
People marched in solidarity.
Black Lives Matter protesters marched through Manchester yesterday, as part of hundreds of protests happening around the world in memory of George Floyd.
George Floyd was killed by a police officer in Minneapolis while being detained. Protesters in Manchester marched along Market St, St Ann’s Square and Peter Street in the Black Lives Matter demonstration on Sunday May 31st.
Many held placards with the slogan ‘Black Lives Matter‘ and others held ones with ‘justice for George Floyd’ and ‘The UK is not innocent’.
In St Peter’s Square, the protesters knelt at 1pm in tribute to Mr Floyd.
There have been nightly protests across the US since Mr Floyd’s death, and around 1,600 people have been arrested in 22 cities as a result of their demonstrations.
Protesters in London on May 31st chanted ‘I can’t breathe’, as they marched peacefully outside the US embassy – the words Mr Floyd gasped before his death, while the police officer knelt on his neck. 23 people were arrested.
The president of the United States of America took to Twitter following the killing on March 29th, warning the country that ‘when the looting starts, the shooting starts’.
Some people have raised concerns regarding the defiance of the social distancing rules within the demonstrations.
However, this has been widely critiqued with tweets such as one user’s response: “People have been flouting the rules for weeks and weeks, and it’s now suddenly a problem when there are #BlackLivesMatter protests?”
Many corporations have aligned themselves with the Black Lives Matter, taking to social media to raise awareness including Nike, Netflix, Adidas and many more. The music industry is expected to do a blackout of social media on Tuesday June 2nd in solidarity.
You can learn more about the resources and suggestions available to UK residents to help take action on this Instagram post here and here.
You can donate to the GoFundMe set up by the Floyd family to help cover the costs of his memorial and burial here.
You can see more images from the protest by Jake Hardy here.