LONDON – Thousands of people gathered across central London and other international capital cities this weekend to protest the killing of George Floyd, a black American who died while in police custody in Minnesota.
Sunday in London, marchers held up signs that said, "Justice for George Floyd" and "I can't breathe." Floyd, 46, died as a police officer kneeled on his neck to pin him down.
The protests, which were peaceful, began at Trafalgar Square before proceeding along the Thames River to the U.S. Embassy, where some held brief sit-ins. Some people broke official coronavirus-related lockdown rules of staying at least 6 feet apart. British police did not intervene to stop the protests.
Protesters in London chanted, "No justice! No peace!"
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Hundreds of people in Manchester in northern England held a rally Sunday in support of demonstrations in cities across America. Protesters chanted, "Black lives matter."
Derek Chauvin, 44, a white police officer, was fired from his job and charged with Floyd's murder. More protests are planned for central London next weekend, according to posts by organizers on social media.
Protests erupted in Berlin on Saturday as a crowd descended on the U.S. Embassy building next to the German city's Brandenburg Gate landmark. Footage posted online showed demonstrators calling for justice over Floyd's death May 25, standing in front of the embassy, clapping and chanting, "Black lives matter" and "Silence is violence." German police did not report any violence or incidents.
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Sunday, Germany's top-selling Bild newspaper carried the headline "This killer cop set America ablaze," with an arrow pointing to a photo of Chauvin. The tabloid newspaper's story reported "scenes like out of a civil war" in U.S. cities amid protests.
In Canada on Saturday, thousands of people turned out at Toronto's Christie Pitts Park to show their anger at the death of Floyd and of Regis Korchinski-Paquet, 29, a black woman who died last week after falling from her 24th-floor balcony after police officers were called to her home. Police in Toronto are investigating. The family has pointed the finger at police.
Some U.S. enemies used state-controlled media to voice support for American demonstrators even though their own authoritarian governments permit little dissent.
"American police commit high-profile crimes all too often. ... U.S. authorities should meticulously investigate the murder of George Floyd," Russia's Foreign Ministry tweeted in English on Saturday. In Iran, which arrested thousands of demonstrators last year and cut internet access to the world, state TV accused U.S. police of attacking protesters.
Hua Chunying, a spokeswoman for China's Foreign Ministry, highlighted the U.S. racial unrest by tweeting Saturday, "I can’t breathe" alongside a screenshot of comments by U.S. State Department spokeswoman Morgan Ortagus about Hong Kong. U.S.-Chinese tensions have come to a head over the city's political status.
"Should Beijing support protests in the U.S., like you glorified rioters in Hong Kong?" asked Hu Xijin, editor of the Global Times, a state-owned newspaper that accused the United States of intervening in Hong Kong to support pro-democracy activists.
Demonstrations also took place in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv, where hundreds of Israelis and Palestinians marched Saturday in protest against the killing by Israeli border police of Iyad Halak, a Palestinian man with autism who was fatally shot in Jerusalem's Old City. Israeli media reported that the demonstrators held signs that read, "Palestinian Lives Matter" and "Justice for Iyad, Justice for George."
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Thousands in cities across the world join protests against death of George Floyd - USA TODAY
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