New George Floyd rally held in central Athens
Police in central Athens have closed several central metro stations after hundreds of people gathered on Syntagma Square in solidarity with demonstrators in the United States protesting the death of a black man in police custody last month.
The Athens rally decrying the May 25 death of 46-year-old George Floyd when a Minnesota police officer knelt on his neck for several minutes while he was handcuffed on the ground is reported to have gathered some 2,000 people. It started outside Parliament and moved to a nearby police precinct in the Kolonaki neighborhood.
Chanting slogans against racism and police violence, the demonstrators tried to reach the US Embassy just a couple of kilometers north of Kolonaki but were stopped by police on Vassilissis Sofias Avenue. There have been some minor scuffles and one person has been taken into custody, according to reports.
In a similar march on Wednesday night, five people were arrested after protesters clashed with riot officers outside the embassy.
In the meantime, a separate group of protesters gathered at Syntgama Square against global warming and climate change.
