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Families also met
As early as Sunday morning, a warning was issued to diplomats residing in Brussels to avoid the central part of the city as riots and riots are forecast.
However, at 3 p.m. The protest that started in Brussels seemed to promise nothing wrong. Crowds from all sides flocked to the Palace of Justice, where the venue was planned. Police politely ordered the flow of people to avoid congestion, ignored some of the provocative inscriptions on the signs they carried (such as “Police – Killers”), and did not even appear at the protest site.
The protest took place on Sunday, when strict quarantine measures were still applied in Belgium, such as the ban on people in large gatherings, a social distance of 1.5 meters, mask requirements, but there were so many people in the square that it was not possible social distance. The event was authorized by the Brussels authorities, but on condition that it is static, i. and. the crowd will not go anywhere. Thousands of disposable masks were also issued for protesters, and event organizers offered free use of hand antiseptics.
In total, around 10,000 people gathered for the event. people, there was a constant rotation: some came, others left. Among them are both white and black or of Arab descent. There were many young people, but there were also older people, some of whom brought their young children. It was like a picnic, just with a lot of people in a square: some drank beer, others ate waffles or danced in a narrow circle, you could always smell the “grass”.
There were also traditional slogans at such events: “Black Lives Matter!”, “No Justice, No Peace!”, Massive applause in honor of the victims of racism. Some had photos of the dead George Floyd in the United States with them, some holding signs with a red (allegedly bloodstained) image of King Leopold II of Belgium accused of genocide in the Congo. There was also talk of racism and police crime in Belgium (in April, a young man of Arab descent was killed when he ran into a police car for fear of being punished for non-compliance with quarantine).
The crowd has mounted the statue of the colonial king Leopold II in #Brussels singing “murderer” and waving the flag of the Democratic Republic of the Congo where his atrocities took place. #DRC 🇨🇩 #BlackLivesMatter pic.twitter.com/DIH9MGu39M
– Jack Parrock (@jackeparrock) June 7, 2020
If the police do not go to the protesters …
After a couple of hours, the event ended, more precisely, the first part ended, and then the crowds went to “seek adventure”. So much more than just next door: a luxury street and not just shops.
There were some clashes with the police near the royal palace, i. and. just under a kilometer from the Court of Justice. It was there, at such a distance that it did not provoke the protesters, that the riot police forces were mobilized. But if the police do not go to the protesters, the protesters will go to the police. The captured videos show youths trying to kick passing police cars, as well as breaking officers’ barriers or throwing traffic lights at police officers here.
Another vandalism “party” took place on the aforementioned upscale shopping street. Stones and other objects flew into the store windows, and after breaking the glass, a mass of young men rushed into the stores and rushed to retrieve their catch. Salvatore Ferragamo, Hermes, Jimmy Choo or Apple also stumbled, although some of the showcases that the protesters could not overcome, a great announcement for their glass manufacturers.
More than 200 detainees.
Even less affected were the less luxurious shops in the Matonge district of Ixelles, considered a kind of Congo black ghetto. A piece of jewelry was completely looted and other stores were attacked. Admittedly, it was not the case that protesters terrorized all the markets in a row. For some reason, the shoe stores suffered the most, and the old food supply store next to one of them didn’t even get a stone out the window.
Brussels is burning pic.twitter.com/6RDePEhY14
– Ian Miles Cheong (@stillgray) June 7, 2020
However, the police did not allow the rioters to take control of the city. Using water cannons, riot forces, and coordinating actions from the air, the crowd of vandals dispersed in about an hour, and some were arrested. Although the city was troubled until late at night.
Boxes of items stolen from stores or even the items themselves, such as shoes with labels, were thrown onto the street. The merchants or employees, who may have assisted the Black Lives Matter themselves and only recently resumed trading due to quarantine, rushed to their devastated properties, sadly counted losses, and knocked broken display cases on the boards. Some have hired security guards to be on duty in stores overnight in the event of a second wave of robberies.
On Monday morning, public services fixed the city fairly quickly. The Black Lives Matter posters, shop windows, and teachers who replaced them recalled the “peaceful protest against racism.”
It has been announced that more than 200 rioters have been arrested, and video investigations into stolen stores have been launched and the vandals will have to compensate employers for the losses. At the time, epidemiologists feared that a protest that did not respect social distance could lead to a new wave of coronavirus, and Belgium eased the quarantine on Monday, allowing restaurants and bars to operate and taking other relief measures.
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