Approximately 50 people gathered on Monday afternoon on the Place de la Monnaie in central Brussels for a Black Lives Matter Belgium demonstration, despite it being cancelled because of the coronavirus measures.
On Sunday, the Facebook group ‘Black Lives Matter Belgium’ called for a peaceful demonstration in honour of George Floyd, a black man who died after a white police officer put his knee on his neck for minutes in the United States last week.
However, the police and the municipality both said that manifestations were not allowed because of the coronavirus measures, and hours after the announcement, the group said that the event would not go forward.
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In a statement on its Facebook page, the group said that anyone who did show up in spite of the cancellation, should not do so in the name of Black Lives Matter Belgium.
"The manifestation was actually forbidden because of the coronavirus crisis," said Ilse Van de Keere, spokesperson for the Brussels-Capital-Ixelles police zone. "Yet, about 50 people turned up. We let the demonstrators go ahead and made sure that the social distance rules were respected," she added.
"After about half an hour, we invited the people to leave the Place de la Monnaie. They did so peacefully," Van de Keere said.
Maïthé Chini
The Brussels Times
