Black Lives Matter activists gathered outside Scotland Yard on Saturday, just yards away from where Queen Elizabeth II is lying in state, to protest against the police shooting a drill rapper who allegedly drove a car at officers.
Activist groups, such as Stand up to Racism, Black Lives Matter UK, and 4 Front joined with politicians such as far-left former Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn to protest the police alongside family members of Chris Kaba, a 23-year-old drill rapper who was shot dead following a car chase in which he allegedly drove his car at law enforcement officers.
Marcia Rigg, the sister of Sean Rigg, who died in police custody in Brixton in 2008 from a cardiac arrest during a schizophrenic episode, led the crowd in a chant of “No justice, no peace!”
“Another one, another black man shot unnecessarily by the Metropolitan Police and what a week for it to happen, this week, the whole country is grieving. We are grieving for our loved ones, our kings, our Queens, let’s not forget that,” she said.
Another BLM activist noted: “Have you noticed most of this fight is done by strong, black queens, right?”
Former Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn said that the “demonstration today, despite everything else that is going on and the national mourning that is going on, the fact that we are here is very important, it’s bearing witness with the family to their tragedy.”
“We cannot have a situation where someone is shot dead through the windscreen of a car and the officer concerned was not immediately suspended from the police force. In any other job, professional walk of life, if someone else dies as a result, possibly of your actions, you get suspended,” the septuagenarian socialist claimed.
Jefferson Bosela, 27, the cousin of Chris Kaba, emotionally relayed his account of seeing the body of his slain family member.
“The whole time I was just thinking Chris, just get up, please,” Bosela said.
“I’m a huge believer in God, and Thomas Jefferson once said ‘the justice of God never sleeps’, so he’s not here, and he doesn’t have a voice, but we have a voice and I’m going to fight for him until the end because this isn’t normal, we can’t let them get away with this.”
“He was a human being, he had fears, he was once a child, he was at school, he was looking forward to things, he was a soon-to-be father and he won’t have that anymore, for what reason, why?” he concluded.
Others at the demonstration complained about the media trying to “defame Chris’ character”. It has been noted in the press that while he was “unarmed” at the time of his death — with the exception of potentially being in control of a car — Kaba had previously served prison time for firearms offences.
Nevertheless, Kaba’s parents have asserted that the shooting was “very racist”.
An unnamed officer, who is said to have given evidence to the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) on the killing, was quoted by The Sun as saying: “The officer [who shot Kaba] has said he was faced with a lethal weapon as the car was being driven towards him at speed.”
“He followed correct training procedures,” the police source added. “He could have been killed if he had not fired.”
The police shooting has already been branded as racist regardless of any pending investigation, despite the body cam footage of it still being kept from the public while the inquiry is held. The IOPC has said that as a part of its investigation into the shooting, it will examine whether race played any part in the killing of Kaba.
While there has been no such determination a this time, it has not stopped leftist London mayor Sadiq Khan from backing the officer’s suspension, leading to his armed response colleagues threatening to turn in their guns following the Queen’s funeral in protest.
Follow Kurt Zindulka on Twitter here @KurtZindulka
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