Police in London arrested 76 people participating in a “die-in” protest at a shopping centre yesterday.
The protest was over the grand jury decision to not prosecute the police officer involved in the death of Eric Garner during an
The protest saw roughly 600 people lying on the floor in the shopping centre.
The BBC reports that the initial protest was peaceful, with those staging the protest complying when asked to move outside. Police say, however, that a group attempted to re-enter the centre and this led to the arrests – for public order offences. One man was held on suspicion of assault.
Commanding officer Chief Superintendent Mark Bird told the BBC: "We will always work with those that wish to demonstrate lawfully - as the majority of protesters did yesterday.
"However, we will not tolerate the small minority that offer violence or commit other criminal acts, such as that witnessed outside Westfield."
Banners at the mall read; “Solidarity with Ferguson”, “Hands up” and “Being black is not a crime”.
Recent months have seen demonstrations across the United States protesting the deaths of black men at the hands of police. In recent weeks the decision by grand juries to not indict officers involved in the deaths of both Eric Garner and Ferguson, Missouri teen Michael Brown led to mass protests across the country.
