this is @bencsmoke, huck’s contributing editor and i’m here in london’s hyde park at the second #BlackLivesMattter protest against the killing of george flloyd by minneapolis police just over a week ago.
It’s hard to get the true scale of the demo but there are perhaps thousands here in the park, socially distanced and chanting “george flloyd, say his name” and “black lives matter”
The family of Belly Mujinga, a tfl worked who died from corona having been spat at by a racist, will be here to speak shortly. The case against the person who did spat at belly has been dropped.
The anger here is palpable and goes far beyond the tragic killings of George and Belly. Speakers are talking about the vastly disproportionate numbers of BAME people killed by Corona. A govt report release yday pointed to huge levels of deprivation as reason for those deaths.
The crowd here is continuing to grow as people flood into the park whilst the chants “George Floyd, say his name” and “Black Lives Matter” ring out over and over again
speakers here talking about the windrush scandal and the hostile environment as the crowd chants “the UK is not innocent”
tearful and harrowing speech from a relative of Belly Mujinga who thanks everyone for coming and pleads for justice. “justice for belly, she doesn’t deserve this”
the crowd, which starts at speakers corner in the north west corner is billowing out across the park as hundreds more contine to stream in from every direction. this is truly astounding. chants of “boris is a racist” drown out the helicopter above
The plan is to march from here to parliament via victoria station. I’ll be here on the ground reporting on what happens throughout the afternoon.
Many of us will be unable to join protests such at this but there are still so many ways you can be an effective ally in the fight for racial justice.
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To learn more about why BAME communities are being disproportionately impacted by the Coronavirus check out our video with @daliagebrial from earlier this year.
we’re on the move. there are thousands upon thousands of people here. the noise, the chants and the cheers are deafening. as a testament to how many people are here it’s impossible to upload videos on mobile data so you’ll have to believe me for now!
here’s the crowd as it prepared to leave the park around 15 mins ago 
the crowds are filling park lane as we march through the rain towards victoria. chants of “no justice, no peace”
as we reach hyde park corner cars sound their horns in support as people come out of their vehicles in support
you can hear the anger and the rage running through the crowd. it’s worth remembering that here in london, since 1990, 402 people have been killed in police custody according to figures from inquest. 0 police officers have been convicted.
shouts of “stop killing the mandem” hardly audible over the noise of cars sounding their horns in support of the demo
just passed a young black woman in the crowd on the phone. she paused chanting to say into her phone “mum, this is for us. i’m making a difference. i told you one day this would happen”
we’re almost at parliament square, which is the destination of the march but the energy hasn’t let up
cheif medical officer chris whitty walking between government buildings. the crowd spots him and shout “sack dominic cummings you wanker”
