George Floyd protest organiser pledges to press ahead with rally in Belfast because of a ‘pandemic of racism’

One of the organisers of Saturday’s planned gathering in Belfast to protest the death of George Floyd has said the aim to press ahead with the rally because “a pandemic of racism is killing people”.
The protest in Belfast on June 3 2020, at which social distancing was not observed. Photo by Presseye/Stephen HamiltonThe protest in Belfast on June 3 2020, at which social distancing was not observed. Photo by Presseye/Stephen Hamilton
The protest in Belfast on June 3 2020, at which social distancing was not observed. Photo by Presseye/Stephen Hamilton

Ivanka Antova, whose Twitter account describes her as “a Research Fellow on the Health Governance After Brexit project”, based at Queen’s University Belfast, described George Floyd as “our brother” saying he was “only the latest victim of institutional racism in the USA”.

An ex-police officer currently faces a charge of murder in relation to the death of Mr Floyd.

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National Public Radio in the USA said an autopsy had found “fentanyl and methamphetamine in his system” at the time of Mr Floyd’s death, although the drugs are not listed as the cause of his death.

It reports that death was due to “cardiopulmonary arrest [heart failure] complicating law enforcement subdual, restraint, and neck compression” (although an examiner hired by the Floyd family said he died from “asphyxiation from sustained pressure”)

The protest in Belfast is set for 3pm on Saturday, and follows an outcry over the flouting of lockdown law at a City Hall protest on Wednesday.

Quizzed about the upcoming protest, Ms Antova condemned “the pandemic of racism which is killing people, quite literally killing people, and it’s been with us for generations and unless we stand up now it’s likely to be with us for generations to come”.

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According to Johns Hopkins medical university in the USA, at time of writing coronavirus has killed 391,773 worldwide in the last few months.

Ms Antova told William Crawley on Radio Ulster: “We have taken extreme measures on our end, as a group of people of colour, as a group of citizens, as a group of ordinary people pulling our resources together, we have taken extraordinary measures to ensure social distancing.

“That is reflected in the location for the event - it is the biggest open space in the city centre of Belfast, where people can easily reach without having to jump in a taxi or get on a bus.

“We’ve asked for people to volunteer on the day to be stewards and help actively encourage people to adhere by all social distancing regulations and guidelines.”

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She said “we don’t need the First Minister to remind us” of that there are alternative ways to protest.

She added the First Minister should instead should go on Twitter and call for people to “donate money for those protestors in the USA who are being arrested for excersing their human right to protest, and their human right to dignity and to be equally valued in society”.

She said that ethnic minorities are not in danger from coronavirus “because there is some sort of a genetic pre-disposition to being exposed to the virus - we say that it’s because racism, inequality, stereotyping, and barriers to healthcare have allowed people of colour to be more vulnerable”.

She said one of Saturday’s messages will be “we want equal healthcare for everybody”, and went on to add that “we may not see a vaccine for a very long time, because vaccines are protected by private interests, people want to patent the vaccine, they don’t want to give it to the people like it should be - you can’t pin that one on the BAME (black and ethnic minority) community in Belfast”.

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Concluding she said: “If this is not the right method of protesting, what is the right method of protesting? Because none of the other methods seemed to have worked...

“I would say the socially-distanced gathering on Saturday is not against health. It’s to highlight the fact that access to health care that access to health during a pandemic is restricted to so many people.”

At no point during the interview with William Crawley did Ms Antova specify what she meant by “racism” or “barriers to healthcare”.

Mr Crawley said “this is not a debate about the aims of Black Lives Matter - many, many people here absolutely agree with everything you said about racism, systemic racism, institutional racism”.

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He added she could “have a platform on the radio any time you want”.

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