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Demonstrators abroad identify with the cause of US protests

In this image made from video, protesters gather for a peaceful rally in Perth, Australia, Monday, June 1, 2020. Hundreds of demonstrators gathered to protest the death of George Floyd, a black man, who died after being restrained by Minneapolis police officers on May 25. (AP)
Associated Press

CANBERRA, Australia – Demonstrators from Australia to Europe identified with the cause of U.S. protests and urged their own governments to address racism and police violence.

An indigenous Australian lawmaker called on governments to use George Floyd’s death as an opportunity to reduce deaths of indigenous people in custody.

Floyd died last week after he was pinned to the pavement by a white police officer who put his knee on the handcuffed black man’s neck until he stopped breathing. His death in Minneapolis set off protests that spread across America.

Linda Burney, the opposition spokeswoman on indigenous Australians, said Tuesday that more than 430 indigenous people had died in Australian police custody since 1991.

“I think we should be using it as an opportunity,” Burney told Australian Broadcasting Corp., referring to Floyd’s death. “Whether we like it or not, it doesn’t take much for racism to come out of the underbelly of this country.”

“It seems to me that there are lots of things that state and territory governments could do, and the federal government could do to lower the number of Aboriginal people in custody,” she added.

While indigenous adults make up only 2% of the Australian population, they account for 27% of the prison population.

Opposition leader Anthony Albanese backed Burney’s call. “There are far too many indigenous Australians who are incarcerated today. As a percentage of the population, this is a tragedy and it’s one that must be addressed as an absolute national priority,” Albanese told reporters.

More than 1,000 protesters marched through downtown Sydney on Tuesday in solidarity with Americans demonstrating against Floyd’s death.

Police escorted the crowd, which included some carrying placards that said: “Black Lives Matter,” “Aboriginal Lives Matter,” “White Silence is Violence” and, in solidarity with Americans, “We See You, We Hear Your, We Stand With You.”

They marched from Hyde Park to the New South Wales state Parliament with plans to continue to the U.S. Consulate.

Around 2,000 demonstrators gathered in Australia’s west coast city of Perth on Monday night to peacefully protest Floyd’s death and rallies are planned for other Australian cities this week.

In Europe, thousands spilled across streets in Amsterdam to denounce police brutality, and those demonstrating in Paris urged the French government to take police violence more seriously and held up signs like “Racism is suffocating us.”

Some government leaders have seen the U.S. unrest as a chance to highlight what they see as American hypocrisy on protest movements at home versus abroad.

Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam She questioned the foreign criticism over an imminent national security law being imposed in the territory.

“They take their own country’s national security very seriously, but for the security of our country, especially the situation in Hong Kong, they are looking at it through tinted glasses,” she said.