A demonstrator participates in a Black Lives Matter protest in Brussels, Belgium, June 7, 2020. (Xinhua/Zheng Huansong)
The Spanish Government Delegate had given permission for 200 people to participate in the protest, but far more people than expected turned up to show their support, as also happened in other European cities.
Tens of thousands of people joined a second day of protests in British cities -- including London, Manchester, Cardiff, Leicester, Bristol and Sheffield -- despite officials advising against mass gatherings due to coronavirus.
BRUSSELS, June 7 -- More "Black Lives Matter" protests against racism and police brutality took place on Sunday in European cities such as Brussels, Copenhagen, London, Budapest, Madrid and Barcelona.
On Saturday, tens of thousands of people took to the streets of European cities like Berlin, Paris, Munich, Hamburg, Frankfurt, Dublin and Prague in support of the "Black Lives Matter" movement, which has swept the United States and other countries worldwide following the U.S. police killing of George Floyd, an unarmed African American.
Floyd, 46, died on May 25 in the U.S. city of Minneapolis after a white police officer knelt on his neck for nearly nine minutes while he was handcuffed facing down and repeatedly said he couldn't breathe.
EUROPE "CAN'T BREATHE"
In Brussels, home to the European Union headquarters, more than 10,000 people demonstrated on Sunday afternoon at Place Poelart in the city center. Protesters of all ages and ethnic backgrounds came from all over Belgium, chanting "Black Lives Matter," "No Justice, No Peace."
Their banners and placards read -- "The Police Kill, it's written white on black," or "We can't breathe," echoing the last words of George Floyd.
"The murder of George Floyd has visibly awakened many people," newspaper Brussels Times quoted Ange Kazi, spokesperson of the Belgian Network for Black Lives Matter, which called for the protest, as saying. "Many people are fed up with police violence, which systematically affects Blacks," she said.
