George Floyd protests in Germany | |
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Part of George Floyd protests | |
Location | Germany |
Shortly after protests seeking justice for George Floyd, an African American who was murdered during a police arrest, began in the United States, the people of Germany also began to protest to show solidarity with the Americans. Many also called on the German police to address its own racist practices and use of violence. [1] [2]
People protested in over 40 cities and in all 16 states.
Most of the protests in Germany sparked by the murder of George Floyd were held on 6 June. On that day, in more than 30 cities the combined number of participants exceeded 100,000.[ citation needed ] In addition, 93 arrests made that day had been reported by the media, and at least two Black [lower-alpha 1] protestors had been sent to the hospital. The local Black Lives Matter movement claimed this was due to police brutality. [3]
Thousands of people protested in Berlin on 30 May. Many gathered in front of the US Embassy, chanting "black lives matter." [14] On 6 June, over 15,000 gathered at Alexanderplatz before its closure to new arrivals, joining in a protest that ended in mild violence and a currently unknown number of arrests. [15] [16]
On 5 June, around 4,500 people attended a protest outside the US Consulate along the banks of the Alster River. [20] Around 14,000 people peacefully protested on 6 June. Afterwards the police and a group of protesters clashed marginally together, up to 35 protesters were arrested. [21] [22]
A mural depicting Floyd was painted in Berlin's Mauerpark, on a section of the Berlin Wall, a day after the video of Floyd's murder spread on social media. [51] [50]
A mural depicting Floyd had also been painted at an underpass in Mannheim's Schlossgarten. [52] [53]
Chancellor Angela Merkel called the murder of George Floyd a "very very terrible thing", and also condemned racism as "something terrible". [54] [55] Merkel also noted that she tried "to bring people together, to seek reconciliation", but that US President Trump's "political style is a very controversial one". [55]
Foreign Minister Heiko Maas stated that "[t]he peaceful protests that we see in the US, involving many moving gestures, including by American police officers, are understandable and more than legitimate", adding that he hoped the protests had an impact and did not turn violent. [56] [57]
Borussia Mönchengladbach football player Marcus Thuram took a knee and bowed his head for a few seconds after scoring a goal. [51] His coach Marco Rose stated that Thuram's sign against racism was "one we all completely support of course". [51]
Borussia Dortmund football player Jadon Sancho removed his jersey after scoring a goal to reveal a shirt with the words "Justice For George Floyd" written on it. [51] [58] He received a yellow card for the move. [51]
While reporting from Minneapolis, Deutsche Welle's Stefan Simons and his crew were shot at by police in two separate incidents and threatened with arrest in a third incident. [59] [60] [56]
Foreign Minister Heiko Maas, who had been made aware of the incidents, stated that "[j]ournalists must be able to carry out their task, which is independent coverage of events, without endangering their safety". [56] He added that "[d]emocratic states under the rule of law have to meet the highest standards when it comes to protecting freedom of press", and criticized violence directed toward working journalists. [56] [57] [ non-primary source needed ]
Patriotic Europeans Against the Islamisation of the West, abbreviated Pegida, is a pan-European, anti-Islam, far-right extremist political movement. German Pegida believes that Germany is being increasingly Islamicised.
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Following the murder of George Floyd, an unarmed black man in Minneapolis, Minnesota on May 25, 2020, protests erupted around the nation and world. Dozens of protests, several involving thousands of protesters have been held in New Jersey. Unlike in other areas of the country, protests have been mainly peaceful. This is attributed to relatively good community-police relations, memories of the race riots of 1967, and activist leadership maintaining focus on systemic racism. After protests in Trenton and Atlantic City grew violent on May 31, curfews were set for the first time. Residents of Atlantic City helped clean up damage after the protests turned destructive.
Protests were held across the United Kingdom following the murder of George Floyd, a 46-year-old African-American man, by a police officer in the United States on 25 May 2020. Immediately following his murder, protests and riots occurred in dozens of cities across the United States. Protests were staged internationally for the first time on 28 May, with a solidarity demonstration outside the United States Embassy in London. They took place during the UK COVID-19 pandemic.
Shortly after protests seeking justice for the murder of George Floyd, an African-American who was killed during a police arrest, began in the United States, people in the Netherlands protested to show solidarity with Americans and to demonstrate against issues with police or racism. Vigils and protests of up to thousands of participants took place nationwide.
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Since April 2020, when Germany's Federal Constitutional Court ruled that the governmental lockdown imposed in March to counter the COVID-19 pandemic did not allow blanket bans on rallies, numerous protests have been held in Germany against anti-pandemic regulations. The protests attracted a mix of people from varied backgrounds, including supporters of populist ideas who felt called to defend against what they saw as an arrogant central government; supporters of various conspiracy theories; and sometimes far right-wing groups. Anti-vaxxers generally also formed a major part of the protesters. Some protesters held strongly negative views towards public media, who they believed to report in an unfair manner; repeatedly, journalists covering the rallies were subjected to harassment and physical attacks. Such attacks were the main reason why Germany slipped from eleventh to 13th place in the Press Freedom Index of Reporters Without Borders, according to a report published on 20 April 2021.
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