Regent Circus was a sea of placards today as speakers took to the steps outside Nandos for today's Black Lives Matter protest.
Protestors, activitists and campaigners from all walks of life attended the rally and heard the speakers from 1pm until 1.30pm when the whole crowd knelt to show their support for the cause.
The symbolic gesture of kneeling comes from the former San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick who became a lighting rod for the Black Lives Matter movement by kneeling during the US National Anthem to protest the police shootings of black men and other social injustices faced by African Americans.
The organisers had insisted that the peaceful event be held in as responsible a way as possible and people wore gloves and facemasks and other PPE to try and keep safe during the pandemic. Despite this though there were still areas in the crowd where it would have been impossible to keep up with the social distancing guidelines although a large percentage tried their best to adhere to the guidance.
For the last two weeks, the USA has seen mass Black Lives Matter protests in every city after the murder of George Floyd. The 46-year-old bouncer was held down by police officers during a routine stop about a counterfeit $20 bill in Minneapolis, Minnesota. One of the officers has been charged since with murder after video footage showed him kneeling on George Floyd's neck for eight minutes and 46 seconds despite Mr Floyd saying he could not breathe. The officer continued kneeling on his victim's neck for minutes after George Floyd became unresponsive. The other three officers have since been charged with aiding and abetting second degree murder.
The murder, which came within days of several other racially motivated incidents and deaths in the USA, led to mass protests as well as rioting.
The protests have now spread around the world with protests taking place everywhere from Sydney to London. This weekend events are being held across the country.
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