[ad_1]
Thousands of people have gathered in Washington to demonstrate against police violence. She is calling for real equality for black American citizens. The rally takes place on a historic day.
Thousands of people gathered in the US capital, Washington, for a protest march against racism and police violence against blacks. Protesters gathered in front of the Lincoln Memorial on Friday under the slogan “Take your knee off your neck.” Exactly 57 years ago, civil rights activist Martin Luther King delivered his famous “I Have a Dream” speech there.
Family members of African American victims of fatal police violence led the demonstration. Radical changes are needed, emphasized activist Frank Nitty, who had marched more than 1,000 kilometers to Washington with a group of protesters.
Floyd as a symbolic figure
The march was organized after the death of African American George Floyd in a brutal police raid in Minneapolis in late May. A white police officer held the 46-year-old’s knee behind the neck for more than eight minutes, although Floyd complained more than 20 times that he could not breathe.
The brutal death of the father sparked protests against racism and police violence across the country. Floyd became a symbol of the Black Lives Matter movement.
The target is the Martin Luther King Monument
Family of Floyd, among others, were going to participate in the march, as well as Martin Luther King III, son of the Nobel Peace Prize murdered in 1968. “We demand a real, permanent structural change,” he says. Civil rights activist Al Sharpton and Democratic vice presidential candidate Kamala Harris will speak.
After the speeches, the protesters want to march from the Lincoln Memorial to the nearby Martin Luther King Monument. Democratic Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley said the movement for change is strong in the United States.
NBA and NHL are back
Police violence against African Americans has caused outrage in the United States for years. Last Sunday, Kenosha, Wisconsin police seriously wounded 29-year-old Jacob Blake with gunshot wounds to the back. The incident sparked further protests, partly violent, on the verge of which two people were shot Tuesday night. A 17-year-old white male was arrested as a suspect.
Meanwhile, the wave of protests has also gripped the main leagues of national professional sports. Numerous sporting events in the United States did not take place in response to the violence against Blake. Players in the NHL ice hockey league and NBA basketball players had interrupted their competitions and boycotted the playoffs. After a meeting with NBA players and representatives of the 13 teams that play in the playoffs in Orlando, as well as representatives of the NBA, everyone involved decided today to resume the playoffs. The NHL Ice Hockey League also announced that it would be playing again this weekend after the break.
