Anti-racism activists brought traffic to a standstill on the road to Heathrow airport on a day of action which featured protests around the UK.
Campaign group Black Lives Matter - or BLMUK - said it wanted to commemorate the fifth anniversary of the death of Mark Duggan, who was shot by police attempting to arrest him in Tottenham, north London, in August 2011, sparking nationwide riots.
The group called for "nationwide #shutdown" in a post on social media, and their Friday morning protests resulted in a number of arrests.
The activists said they had shut roads in London, Birmingham, Manchester and Nottingham to "mourn those who have died in custody and to protest the ongoing racist violence of the police, border enforcement, structural inequalities and the everyday indignity of street racism".
Black Lives Matter protests around the country: motorway route into Heathrow Airport blocked by activists lying on road
Leon Watson
5 August 2016
The Telegraph
Tram lines blocked in Nottingham
Protest on the A45 near Birmingham Airport
'Number of' arrests at Heathrow, 5 in Birmingham
Happens day after Mark Duggan anniversary
Is part of campaign to raise awareness of racism
Black lives matter protests spread to Canada
Anti-racism activists brought traffic to a standstill on the road to Heathrow airport on a day of action which featured protests around the UK.
Campaign group Black Lives Matter - or BLMUK - said it wanted to commemorate the fifth anniversary of the death of Mark Duggan, who was shot by police attempting to arrest him in Tottenham, north London, in August 2011, sparking nationwide riots.
The group called for "nationwide #shutdown" in a post on social media, and their Friday morning protests resulted in a number of arrests.
The activists said they had shut roads in London, Birmingham, Manchester and Nottingham to "mourn those who have died in custody and to protest the ongoing racist violence of the police, border enforcement, structural inequalities and the everyday indignity of street racism".
Pictures posted on Twitter showed protesters lying in a row across the M4 slip road to Heathrow beneath a banner which said: "This is a crisis."
Video footage showed police officers hunkering down next to the protesters, while chants of "black lives matter" could be heard as some people got out of their vehicles, which were bumper-to-bumper on the road into one of the world's busiest airports.
Nottinghamshire Police said officers were negotiating with a small number of protesters, and photographs posted on Twitter showed four activists lying across tram tracks in the city of Nottingham.
Footage of the protest near Birmingham Airport showed police officers pulling demonstrators away from the middle of the road.
Scotland Yard said a number of people were arrested at the Heathrow incident, while 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.
A spokesman for Nottinghamshire Police said screens erected at the scene of the protest were to prevent distraction for motorists.
Screens were also at the scene of the Heathrow incident, where video footage appeared to show a number of police officers moving the protesters while they continued to lie on the road.
The day of action comes just a day after the anniversary of Mr Duggan's death. An inquest jury decided that Mr Duggan was lawfully killed by a police marksman.
BLMUK describes itself as a network of anti-racist activists from across the UK.
The group said: "We stand in solidarity with the families and friends of all who have died at the hands of the British state. We take action because justice has not been delivered through conventional means: the police, the IPCC, the courts or the legislature."
The campaigners said they aim to highlight "the struggle for black lives in the UK and £Shutdown state-sanctioned racialised sexism, Islamophobia, classism, ableism, homophobia and transphobia", adding: "We fight for liberation."
11:22 am
The protest in Nottingham
Pictures in from Nottingham, where activists shut down part of the city centre tram and bus network to protest for social justice movement Black Lives Matter:
Activists lay down in front of tram lines Credit: Edward Smith/PA Wire
Police screen off protesters Credit: Edward Smith/PA Wire
Nottingham Theatre Royal is shut down Credit: Edward Smith/PA Wire
10:54am
Twitter reacts
The protests are getting short shrift from some users on Twitter:
View image on Twitter
Follow
Mécréante
@franchescabonit
Trouble maker "Black Lives Matter UK "PROTESTING AGAINS WHAT ?
10:49 AM - 5 Aug 2016
2 Retweets 2 Likes
******************************************************
Sharon McGonigal
@Shazza1uk
Why is "black lives matter" in the UK? As far as im concerned #AllLivesMatter
10:09 AM - 5 Aug 2016
20 Retweets 40 Likes
******************************************************
I voted Leave
@OffencePolice
UK branch of Black Lives Matter ruining thousands of people's holidays to draw attention to an issue which does not exist in the UK.
9:53 AM - 5 Aug 2016
67 Retweets 84 Likes
10:31am
Police screen off protesters
At Heathrow and in Nottingham, police have put up screens around the protesters.
A spokesman for Nottinghamshire Police said the screens were erected to prevent distraction for motorists.
View image on Twitter
Follow
FuwaFuwaFoxy
@FuwaFuwaFoxy
#BlackLivesMatter protest in Nottingham. Police put up screens. Way to make it look like a murder scene or something
9:46 AM - 5 Aug 2016
Screens are also at the scene of the Heathrow incident, where video footage appears to show a number of police officers moving the protesters while they continue to lie on the road.
It would appear that the protesters are linked together in some way as the officers move them towards the side of the road as a group.
Follow
#BlackLivesMatterUK
@ukblm
Full #Shutdown in London. Motorway closed. Police have made at least 4 arrests
9:35 AM - 5 Aug 2016
229 Retweets 113 Likes
10:17am
UKBLM issues statement
Some explanation of the action from the group behind the protests, Black Lives Matter UK.
In a press release issued this morning, a spokesperson said:
The statement adds:
Campaign group Black Lives Matter - or BLMUK - said it wanted to commemorate the fifth anniversary of the death of Mark Duggan, who was shot by police attempting to arrest him in Tottenham, north London, in August 2011, sparking nationwide riots.
The group called for "nationwide #shutdown" in a post on social media, and their Friday morning protests resulted in a number of arrests.
The activists said they had shut roads in London, Birmingham, Manchester and Nottingham to "mourn those who have died in custody and to protest the ongoing racist violence of the police, border enforcement, structural inequalities and the everyday indignity of street racism".
Black Lives Matter protests around the country: motorway route into Heathrow Airport blocked by activists lying on road
Leon Watson
5 August 2016
The Telegraph
Tram lines blocked in Nottingham
Protest on the A45 near Birmingham Airport
'Number of' arrests at Heathrow, 5 in Birmingham
Happens day after Mark Duggan anniversary
Is part of campaign to raise awareness of racism
Black lives matter protests spread to Canada
Anti-racism activists brought traffic to a standstill on the road to Heathrow airport on a day of action which featured protests around the UK.
Campaign group Black Lives Matter - or BLMUK - said it wanted to commemorate the fifth anniversary of the death of Mark Duggan, who was shot by police attempting to arrest him in Tottenham, north London, in August 2011, sparking nationwide riots.
The group called for "nationwide #shutdown" in a post on social media, and their Friday morning protests resulted in a number of arrests.
The activists said they had shut roads in London, Birmingham, Manchester and Nottingham to "mourn those who have died in custody and to protest the ongoing racist violence of the police, border enforcement, structural inequalities and the everyday indignity of street racism".
Pictures posted on Twitter showed protesters lying in a row across the M4 slip road to Heathrow beneath a banner which said: "This is a crisis."
Video footage showed police officers hunkering down next to the protesters, while chants of "black lives matter" could be heard as some people got out of their vehicles, which were bumper-to-bumper on the road into one of the world's busiest airports.
Nottinghamshire Police said officers were negotiating with a small number of protesters, and photographs posted on Twitter showed four activists lying across tram tracks in the city of Nottingham.
Footage of the protest near Birmingham Airport showed police officers pulling demonstrators away from the middle of the road.
Scotland Yard said a number of people were arrested at the Heathrow incident, while 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.
A spokesman for Nottinghamshire Police said screens erected at the scene of the protest were to prevent distraction for motorists.
Screens were also at the scene of the Heathrow incident, where video footage appeared to show a number of police officers moving the protesters while they continued to lie on the road.
The day of action comes just a day after the anniversary of Mr Duggan's death. An inquest jury decided that Mr Duggan was lawfully killed by a police marksman.
BLMUK describes itself as a network of anti-racist activists from across the UK.
The group said: "We stand in solidarity with the families and friends of all who have died at the hands of the British state. We take action because justice has not been delivered through conventional means: the police, the IPCC, the courts or the legislature."
The campaigners said they aim to highlight "the struggle for black lives in the UK and £Shutdown state-sanctioned racialised sexism, Islamophobia, classism, ableism, homophobia and transphobia", adding: "We fight for liberation."
11:22 am
The protest in Nottingham
Pictures in from Nottingham, where activists shut down part of the city centre tram and bus network to protest for social justice movement Black Lives Matter:
Activists lay down in front of tram lines Credit: Edward Smith/PA Wire
Police screen off protesters Credit: Edward Smith/PA Wire
Nottingham Theatre Royal is shut down Credit: Edward Smith/PA Wire
10:54am
Twitter reacts
The protests are getting short shrift from some users on Twitter:
View image on Twitter
Follow
Mécréante@franchescabonit
Trouble maker "Black Lives Matter UK "PROTESTING AGAINS WHAT ?
10:49 AM - 5 Aug 2016
2 Retweets 2 Likes
******************************************************
Sharon McGonigal@Shazza1uk
Why is "black lives matter" in the UK? As far as im concerned #AllLivesMatter
10:09 AM - 5 Aug 2016
20 Retweets 40 Likes
******************************************************
I voted Leave@OffencePolice
UK branch of Black Lives Matter ruining thousands of people's holidays to draw attention to an issue which does not exist in the UK.
9:53 AM - 5 Aug 2016
67 Retweets 84 Likes
10:31am
Police screen off protesters
At Heathrow and in Nottingham, police have put up screens around the protesters.
A spokesman for Nottinghamshire Police said the screens were erected to prevent distraction for motorists.
View image on Twitter
Follow
FuwaFuwaFoxy@FuwaFuwaFoxy
#BlackLivesMatter protest in Nottingham. Police put up screens. Way to make it look like a murder scene or something
9:46 AM - 5 Aug 2016
Screens are also at the scene of the Heathrow incident, where video footage appears to show a number of police officers moving the protesters while they continue to lie on the road.
It would appear that the protesters are linked together in some way as the officers move them towards the side of the road as a group.
Follow
#BlackLivesMatterUK@ukblm
Full #Shutdown in London. Motorway closed. Police have made at least 4 arrests
9:35 AM - 5 Aug 2016
229 Retweets 113 Likes
10:17am
UKBLM issues statement
Some explanation of the action from the group behind the protests, Black Lives Matter UK.
In a press release issued this morning, a spokesperson said:
This morning UKBLM have #Shutdown roads in London, Birmingham, Manchester and Nottingham to mourn those who have died in custody and to protest the ongoing racist violence of the police, border enforcement, structural inequalities and the everyday indignity of street racism.
We have chosen today for our action to commemorate the fifth anniversary of Mark Duggan’s death at the hands of the Metropolitan Police. We stand in solidarity with the families and friends of all who have died at the hands of the British state. We take action because justice has not been delivered through conventional means: the police, the IPCC, the courts or the legislature.
UKBLM is a network of anti-racist activists from across the UK who believe deeply that #BlackLivesMatter. We believe the time is now for a Black Lives Matter movement in the UK to #Shutdown a nationwide crisis of racism.
The group says they are "appalled and alarmed to see that in the UK":We have chosen today for our action to commemorate the fifth anniversary of Mark Duggan’s death at the hands of the Metropolitan Police. We stand in solidarity with the families and friends of all who have died at the hands of the British state. We take action because justice has not been delivered through conventional means: the police, the IPCC, the courts or the legislature.
UKBLM is a network of anti-racist activists from across the UK who believe deeply that #BlackLivesMatter. We believe the time is now for a Black Lives Matter movement in the UK to #Shutdown a nationwide crisis of racism.
- Black people are overrepresented by more than a factor of two for deaths in police custody since 1998.
- Black people are up to 37 times more likely to be stopped and searched than white people.
- Black people are three times more likely to be arrested than white people.
- Black people are 44% more likely to be detained under the mental health act than white people.
- Black people are three times more likely to be unemployed than white people.
- Black Caribbean pupils were almost four times more likely to be permanently excluded from school in 2009-10 than the school population as a whole.
- There has been a 57% increase in reported racist hate crimes since Brexit vote.
- 3132 black and brown people have drowned in the Mediterranean in 2016 alone.
UKBLM aims to highlight the struggle for Black Lives in the UK and #Shutdown state-sanctioned racialised sexism, Islamophobia, classism, ableism, homophobia and transphobia. We fight for liberation. The struggle is global, so must be the solution.
We are not affiliated with any political party (e.g. Socialist Party, Socialist Workers Party, or Labour). We work in co-ordination with anti-racist groups led by people of colour.
Black Lives Matter protests around the country: motorway route into Heathrow Airport blocked by activists lying on roadWe are not affiliated with any political party (e.g. Socialist Party, Socialist Workers Party, or Labour). We work in co-ordination with anti-racist groups led by people of colour.
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