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5 Aug 2016

Black Lives Matter protest at Heathrow

Black Lives Matter activists stage protests in London, Birmingham and Nottingham, stopping traffic from reaching Heathrow Airport by lying in the road.

The group was established in the US to protest about the killings of black people by the police and the demonstrations in English cities coincide with the fifth anniversary of the fatal shooting of Mark Duggan by officers in London.

Traffic bound for Heathrow, one of the world’s busiest airports, was brought to a standstill after campaigners called for a “nationwide #shutdown” on social media, with several people arrested.

A Scotland Yard spokesman said: “A number of people were reported to be blocking the road leading to the airport. Officers have attended. A number of people have been arrested.”

A Heathrow spokesman said the protest did not appear to have caused people to miss flights, adding: “Heathrow supports the right to peaceful protest within the law, but the safety and security of our passengers, aircraft and colleagues, together with the smooth running of the operation, is paramount.

“We are sorry to those passengers whose journeys are being disrupted and we are working with the authorities to resolve the issue.”

In Nottingham, photographs posted on Twitter show four demonstrators lying across tram tracks.

Nottinghamshire Police said they were aware of disruption in the city and officers were at the scene negotiating with a small number of protesters.

Video footage of a protest near Birmingham Airport shows police officers pulling demonstrators away from the middle of the road.

Black Lives Matter is seeking to draw attention to what it says is a disproportionate number of black people dying in police custody in Britain.

Mark Duggan’s death in Tottenham, north London, in 2011 led to riots that spread across several English cities. An inquest jury concluded in 2014 that he had been lawfully killed.