Hundreds of people gathered on Dam Square in Amsterdam on Monday to protest police brutality in the United States and Europe. The protest follows the death of a black American, George Floyd, in the city of Minneapolis last week.
Several Dutch anti-racism organizations announced a protest on Sunday, after several other European cities did the same. Hundreds of people took to the streets in London on Sunday.
The protest started at 5:00 PM and is expected to last until about 6:30 PM. Demonstrators protest, among other things, with signs with texts such as ‘Black Lives Matter’. The Dutch branch of this movement and the organization Kick Out Zwarte Piet have called on people to participate in the demonstration.
Beforehand, everyone was urged to wear a mask or face shield and keep a distance of 1.5 meters to prevent the spread of the coronavirus. However, this does not seem possible due to the large crowds. A spokesman for the municipality of Amsterdam tells NU.nl that the responsibility for the 1.5-meter distance rests with demonstrators, a maximum number of demonstrators has no longer existed since the new emergency regulation.
Also protests in the US
In the United States, there have been protests against police brutality for six nights. The protests started in Minneapolis last week, after black American George Floyd was killed by police brutality.
Floyd was arrested in Minneapolis for a minor offense, after which a white cop sat on his neck for nine minutes. The man made it clear several times that he could not breathe. He died shortly afterwards.
“This is reminiscent of similar home-grown events. Like Mitch Henriquez who was choked by police officers five years ago during his arrest in The Hague. Jerry Afriye’s violent arrest in Gouda 2014 during the entry, where he cried for breath,” says Kick Out Zwarte Piet in a press release. “The organizers condemn the structural violations of black people’s rights and therefore consider it important to take action.”
