Global protests demand justice for George Floyd

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MATT DUNHAM/Associated Press

Police officers on horseback stand next to demonstrators blocking the road outside the Houses of Parliament in central London on May 31.

DANICA KIRKA, Associated Press

LONDON — Nations around the world watched the civil unrest in the U.S. 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.

Floyd’s death on May 25 in Minneapolis was the latest in a series of police-related deaths of black men and women in the U.S.

Burning cars and riot police featured on newspaper front pages around the globe Sunday — bumping news of the COVID-19 pandemic to second-tier status in some places.

Protestors gathered in the U.S. Embassy in Berlin 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.

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 U.K. government rules banning crowds because of the pandemic. Police didn’t stop them.

Demonstrators then marched to the U.S. Embassy, where a long line of officers surrounded the building, and several hundred crowded the street and waved placards.

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

Germany’s top-selling Bild newspaper on Sunday carried the headline “This killer-cop set America ablaze” with an arrow pointing to a photo of former police officer Derek Chauvin, who has been charged with third-degree murder in Floyd’s death, kneeling on Floyd. The newspaper’s story reported “scenes like out of a civil war.”

In Italy, the Corriere della Sera newspaper’s senior U.S. correspondent Massimo Gaggi wrote that the reaction to Floyd’s killing was “different” than previous cases of black Americans killed by police.

“There are exasperated black movements that no longer preach nonviolent resistance,” Gaggi wrote, noting the Minnesota governor’s warning that “anarchist and white supremacy groups are trying to fuel the chaos.”

Protesters carry a Black Lives Matter banner
People gather for a Black Lives Matter demonstration in front of the U.S. Embassy in Copenhagen, Denmark, on May 31. (IDA GULDBAEK ARENSTEN and RITZAU SCANPIX/Associated Press)

In countries with authoritarian governments, state-controlled media have been highlighting the chaos and violence of the U.S. demonstrations, in part to undermine American officials’ criticism of their own nations.

Hu Xijin, the editor of the state-owned Global Times newspaper in China, tweeted that U.S. officials can now see protests out their own windows: “I want to ask Speaker Pelosi and Secretary Pompeo: Should Beijing support protests in the U.S., like you glorified rioters in Hong Kong?”

Hua Chunying, a Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman, pointed out America’s racial unrest by tweeting “I can’t breathe,” which Floyd said before his death.

In Iran, which has violently put down nationwide demonstrations by killing hundreds, arresting thousands and disrupting internet access to the outside world, state television has repeatedly aired images of the unrest. One TV anchor discussed “a horrible scene from New York, where police attacked protesters.” Another state TV message accused police agencies in Washington of “setting fire to cars and attacking protesters,” without offering any evidence.

Russia accused the U.S. of “systemic problems in the human rights sphere.” It denounced Floyd’s death as the latest in a series of police violence cases against African Americans.

“This incident is far from the first in a series of lawless conduct and unjustified violence from U.S. law enforcement,” the Russian foreign ministry said in a statement. “American police commit such high-profile crimes all too often.”

There have also been expressions of solidarity with the demonstrators.

Over the weekend, Lebanese anti-government protesters flooded social media with tweets sympathetic to U.S. protesters, using the hashtag #Americarevolts. Within 24 hours, the hashtag became the No. 1 trending tag in Lebanon.

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