Today (Aug. 5) Black Lives Matter participants in the UK are taking part in a nationwide protest to mark five years since the death of Mark Duggan, a man shot in a taxi after North London police pulled over the vehicle. The shooting was deemed lawful and citizens did not agree, even five years later.
“In the UK, families have in some cases been waiting decades to find out what’s happened to their loved ones who have died in custody, or to get a straight answer — even where wrongdoing has been found to be by police officers,” Black Lives Matter UK spokesman Wail Qasim, 23, told CNN.
People have chained themselves together in some areas, blocked off transport routes, and other forms of protest. While they are widespread across the country, one of most noted is the group who has shutdown Heathrow Airport, London’s largest airport. Protestors here are chained together as well, laying across the M4 motorway with signs that read “THIS IS A CRISIS” and “Black Lives Matter.”
Follow the Black Lives Matter UK on Twitter for updates as the protests continue to unfold.
Road get lock arff. #Shutdown lock arff pic.twitter.com/zRgFpnZ24x
— #BlackLivesMatterUK (@ukblm) August 5, 2016
Full #Shutdown in London. Motorway closed. Police have made at least 4 arrests pic.twitter.com/QyA7COd46p
— #BlackLivesMatterUK (@ukblm) August 5, 2016