Call For Brighton & Hove To Support BAME Lives Lost In Police Custody Tonight (Friday, 5)

Three of Brighton's landmarks are to be lit in purple on Friday night (June 5) as part of a city council-organised display of solidarity with BAME people who'd died after contact with the justice system.

That's according to the city council, which said this week that it was encouraging public participation in the event, scheduled for 8pm.

Officials intended that Brighton Palace Pier, the Brighton Centre and the BA i360 will be lit in purple in support against inequality in all its forms.

The council also asked the city's residents to come out on their doorsteps and stand or ‘take the knee’ and hold a minute’s silence on 8pm on Friday evening in solidarity with people of colour.

It comes after the death, on May 25, of George Floyd, a black man, who lost his life as a police officer in Minneapolis pressed his knee upon Mr. Floyd's neck for nine minutes while he was handcuffed on the ground.

A police officer, Derek Chauvin, faces a charge of second-degree murder.

In a public statement, the authority added:

"We stand in solidarity with the family, friends and community of George Floyd in Minneapolis.

"We in the UK cannot ignore yet another death of an unarmed person of colour in police custody. 
 
"As a council, we recognise that George Floyd’s death took place in the context of centuries of social deprivation and economic extraction that have been endured by people of colour. 
 
"As anti-imperialists we recognise that America has been built on the slavery, dispossession and subjugation of its native and BAME population. 
 
"As anti-racists, we stand shoulder to shoulder with all those in America and across the world who feel anger, hurt and fear after yet another instance of discriminatory state violence. 
 
"Although we are grateful and recognise the good work that the police do in protecting communities in our city and their joint work with the council, it is also crucial that we in the UK recognise that we are still not immune from institutional racism in our justice system. 
 
"We all have a responsibility to tackle racism. Brighton & Hove take pride in being a City of Sanctuary and a community committed to celebrating our diversity and opposing prejudice and racism. 
 
"We call on the UK government to take this opportunity to reassess the racial disparities in our criminal justice system. 
 
"Now is the time to end the severe class and racial inequalities which exist across the world."

Councillor Nancy Platts (Council Leader and Labour Party Group Leader) and Councillor Phélim Mac Cafferty (Leader of the Opposition and Convenor of the Green Party) also said they will jointly write to Black Lives Matter in Minneapolis, expressing their sympathy and solidarity with the people of colour of the city.

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