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Thousands of Australian Black Lives Matter Protestors Ignore COVID-19
Warnings

VOA News

   Ignoring warnings that mass protests could trigger spikes in COVID-19
   cases, tens of thousands of people took to the streets across Australia
   Saturday in support of the Black Lives Matter movement following the
   death of an African American man after being restrained by a white
   policeman.

   Demonstrators rallied in large cities such as Sydney and Melbourne and
   in small towns across the country after a court overturned a ruling
   Friday declaring the Sydney protest illegal on health grounds.

   Marchers carried signs that read "I can't breathe," among the last
   words spoken by American George Floyd on May 25 as a policeman pushed
   his knee into his neck as he was pinned to the ground while handcuffed.

   Another sign displayed "Same story, different soil," a nod to the
   institutionalized racism in the country that has led to a large number
   of deaths of Aboriginal Australians and an inordinately high
   incarceration rate.

   Despite warnings from Britain's health minister to avoid weekend
   protests, throngs of defiant mask-wearing people participated Saturday
   in Black Lives Matter protests in London, Manchester and Leichester.

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