George Floyd: People Take The Knee Across Britain On First Year Remembrance

People across Britain will be taking the knee on Tuesday evening to mark the one-year anniversary of George Floyd’s death as part of events planned worldwide to commemorate his death.

The demonstration, which has been organized by campaigners “Stand Up To Racism and Britain’s Trade Union Congress’’, will see people in cities and towns across England, Scotland and Wales show their support for black lives.

The demonstration involves people kneeling down on one knee at 1700 GMT in memory of Floyd, a black American who was killed on May 25, 2020, after police officer Derek Chauvin pressed his knee on Floyd’s neck in an act of police brutality.

The demonstrations were also being held as a way of calling for better action to tackle institutional racism within Britain.

The act of taking a knee is inspired by former U.S. football player Colin Kaepernick, who first took the knee during the U.S. national anthem at a football game in 2016 in protest against racial injustice and how black people were treated by police in the U.S.

Floyd’s death prompted a wave of protests around the world and sparked conversations about how black people still face discrimination.

U.S. President Joe Biden will meet with Floyd’s family later on Tuesday.

George Floyd's killing last year sparked one of the largest mass protest movements in American history with hundreds of thousands taking to the streets nationwide to demand an end to racial inequality and police brutality.

The horror of Floyd's death under the knee of a police officer was captured on video by an onlooker and went viral, inspiring marches in cities across the world.

George Floyd's anniversary comes just weeks after former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin was convicted of his murder. While many have described the conviction as an important step, there are hopes more systemic changes in politics, culture, and police will follow.

According to data from Mapping Police Violence, a further 140 black people died at the hands of police in the U.S. after Floyd’s death in 2020. The total was 248 in 2021.

Eighty-nine people have so far died at the hands of U.S. police officers.