George Floyd protests: Amsterdam witnesses extraordinary turnout, watch video

Thousands of 'Black Lives Matter' demonstrators gathered in Amsterdam’s Dam Square on June 1 to protest against police brutality in the United States and Europe. Footage posted by Ian Bremmer on Twitter shows around 5,000 protesters holding placards and chanting ‘Black Lives Matter’. The protest follows the death of an African American, George Floyd, who died in police custody. 

While calling the turnout for Floyd protest in Amsterdam ‘extraordinary’, Bremmer shared the video on June 2. With nearly seven million views, several internet users even thanked the demonstrators for their support. One Twitter user wrote, “Thank you, Amsterdam, and the other countries who have been supportive of Americans right now”. “Wow! Amazing solidarity from the Dutch” added another. 

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Floyd’s death triggers wave of protests

George Floyd’s death has triggered a wave of protests across the globe. The demonstrators said that the focus of the protests is the alleged institutional bigotry in police forces. Floyd’s tragic death has angered millions across the world as a video of a white police personnel pressing his knee down Floyd’s neck despite desperate calls for him to stop went viral on the internet. 

The support for George Floyd and Black Lives Matter has been pouring from different parts of the globe even as the world battles the deadly coronavirus pandemic. Protests have rocked not just parts of US, but demonstrations have been taking place in Netherlands, London, Manchester as well. The organisers of anti-racism protest in the United Kingdom have also accused the police of unfairly targeting black people during the lockdown. 

Meanwhile, in Hauge in the Netherlands, protestors lending their voice to the Black Lives Matter movement demonstrated peacefully while also maintaining social distancing. The agitators were reportedly maintaining adequate distance between each other while also wearing masks as they protest in an open field. Protestors and rioters in the US, however,  gave coronavirus safety measures a skip as they expressed their dissent and demanded justice sans social distancing and wearing masks. 

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