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George Floyd death: Protests planned in NZ, thousands march in London

Author
AP,
Publish Date
Mon, 1 Jun 2020, 9:50AM

George Floyd death: Protests planned in NZ, thousands march in London

Author
AP,
Publish Date
Mon, 1 Jun 2020, 9:50AM

Nations around the world have watched in horror at the civil unrest in the United States following the death of George Floyd, a black man who died after a white police officer pressed his knee on his neck until he stopped breathing.

Racism-tinged events no longer startle even America's closest allies, though many have watched coverage of the often-violent protests with growing unease. Burning cars and riot police in the US featured on newspaper front pages around the globe Sunday — bumping news of the Covid-19 pandemic to second-tier status in some places.

Floyd's death on May 25 in Minneapolis was the latest in a series of deaths of black men and women at the hands of police in the US and protests are spreading around the world.

In New Zealand, there is a march planned today in Auckland, and a vigil in Wellington.

People, some of them kneeling, gather in Trafalgar Square in central London yesterday to protest against the killing of George Floyd by police officers in Minneapolis. Photo / AP

People, some of them kneeling, gather in Trafalgar Square in central London yesterday to protest against the killing of George Floyd by police officers in Minneapolis. (Photo / AP)

People gather in Trafalgar Square in central London yesterday to protest against the killing of George Floyd by police officers in Minneapolis. Photo / AP

People gather in Trafalgar Square in central London yesterday to protest against the killing of George Floyd by police officers in Minneapolis. (Photo / AP)

Thousands gathered in central London on Sunday to offer support for American demonstrators. Chanting "No justice! No peace!" and waving placards with the words "How many more?" at Trafalgar Square, the protesters ignored UK government rules banning crowds because of the pandemic. Police didn't stop them.

Demonstrators then marched to the US Embassy, where a long line of officers surrounded the building. Several hundred milled around in the street and waved placards.

George Floyd's name is written outside the US embassy after people marched there from Trafalgar Square in central London yesterday. Photo / AP

George Floyd's name is written outside the US embassy after people marched there from Trafalgar Square in central London yesterday. (Photo / AP)

Protesters in Denmark also converged on the U.S. Embassy on Sunday. Participants carried placards with messages such as "Stop Killing Black People".

The US Embassy in Berlin was the scene of protests on Saturday under the motto: "Justice for George Floyd." Several hundred more people took to the streets Sunday in the capital's Kreuzberg area, carrying signs with slogans like "Silence is Violence," "Hold Cops Accountable," and "Who Do You Call When Police Murder?" No incidents were reported.

Protestors gather outside the US Embassy in Berlin on Saturday following the death of George Floyd at the hands of US police. Photo / AP

Protestors gather outside the US Embassy in Berlin on Saturday following the death of George Floyd at the hands of US police. (Photo / AP)

Germany's top-selling Bild newspaper on Sunday carried the sensational headline "This killer-cop set America ablaze" with an arrow pointing to a photo of now-fired police officer Derek Chauvin, who has been charged with third-degree murder in Floyd's death, with his knee on Floyd's neck. The newspaper's story reported "scenes like out of a civil war."

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