Ten people were arrested on Friday after protesters from the British arm of the “Black Lives Matter” movement blocked the main road to London’s Heathrow Airport, police said.
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The campaign group Black Lives Matter UK called for “nationwide #shutdown” in a post on social media on Thursday and there are reports of protests taking place in Birmingham and Nottingham.
“But we rally behind this idea of “Black Lives Matter” because we need a focus on racial justice in this country”, Morial said, citing what he calls disparities in criminal justice, in voting and in the economy.
In Nottingham, protesters attached themselves to each other and lay across tram lines in the city centre, halting traffic.
West Midlands Police said four women and one man were arrested on suspicion of obstructing the highway and failing to comply with section 14 of the Public Order Act on the A45 in Solihull.
The two-minute clip features many notable figures including journalist Wail Qasim, the NUS black students officer Aadam Musse and Marcia Rigg, the sister of musician Sean Rigg, who died in a south London police station, in August 2008, and a dedicated campaigner. “If the law says you have to tell someone to leave first before you arrest them, particularly in the context of a person exercising something we cherish so much in this country – the First Amendment”, said White.
Several protesters caused travel chaos after chaining their arms together and lying down on the road into Heathrow Airport this morning.
An inquest into his death in 2014 found Duggan was lawfully killed, even though he did not have a gun in his hand at the moment he was shot.
A video on the BLMUK Facebook page features people talking about the campaign and includes statistics, with one man saying there have been “1,562 deaths in police custody in my lifetime”, adding that there have been zero convictions. The two, who are cousins, face charges including attempted homicide of a law enforcement officer.
‘They are in jail for doing what Black Lives Matter wanted them to do: shoot at cops, ‘ said Marquell’s mother Luz Rentas and Trenton’s father Roberto Rentas in a joint statement.
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However, both blacks and whites overwhelmingly agree that the “relationship between black America and the police” has worsened under President Obama. For the sake of transparency the group publicly state those whose work it supports or position it stands in solidarity with. It creates greater a chance to have individuals emboldened to take violent actions out on police.
