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British police custody black deaths

Monday, 31 October 2022 5:12 AM [ Last Update: Monday, 31 October 2022 5:12 AM ]

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Thousands of anti racism activists gathered in central London Saturday for a march on Downing Street in an effort to combat institutional racism in the British police force.

The action spearheaded by the United Families and Friends Campaign group aims to raise awareness of the shocking stories of, mostly black, men who died under suspicious circumstances whilst in police custody.

British families demand answers over police custody deaths

Thousands of anti-racism activists gather in central London for a march on Downing Street against institutional racism in the British police force.

Family members of the victims and their supporters meet here every year two march on Downing Street, however, this time around, the numbers have swelled considerably as this year there was a high profile killing of a black man by the police in South London, Chris Kaba, who was unarmed when he was shot earlier this year.

Chris Kaba was fatally shot by armed police on September the fifth, although he was not in police custody at the time, his killing and the backlash it received has been compared to the notorious George Floyd murder by police in America in 2020.

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The Cordoba Foundation said hate crimes rose 42% in England and Wales for the year ending March 2022.

Black activists remain furious that serious change has yet to come, despite the large number of prominent cases against the police.

I was first involved with Justice campaigns to deal with black deaths in custody 43 years ago when Colin Roach died in mysterious circumstances in Stoke Newington police station; they said that he shot himself with his own shotgun in the reception of the police station.

How believable is that? And there have been many scores more since then, and we will keep campaigning until we get justice.

The reality is that the Metropolitan Police is (sic) rotten to the core.

Marc Wadsworth, Author and Activist

The UFFC was set up by black families who had lost loved ones at the hands of the state to challenge the injustice in the system. The movement has now grown to include families of all races that die in custody.

However, the struggle for answers for many members remains a lifelong endeavor.