Anti-racism protesters gathered for a mass march in the US capital yesterday, after a white officer's shooting of African American Jacob Blake rekindled outrage over police violence and sparked a boycott movement in the sports world.
Tens of thousands of demonstrators are expected on Washington's National Mall to mark the anniversary of Martin Luther King's historic "I have a dream" speech which was delivered on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial on August 28, 1963.
The same location was the scene of a lavish fireworks display on Thursday evening as President Donald Trump wrapped up the Republican Party's pre-election convention with an angry "law and order" speech at the nearby White House.
yesterday's demonstration has been dubbed "Get Your Knee Off Our Necks," in reference to George Floyd, who suffocated beneath the knee of a white officer in Minneapolis in May, igniting the most widespread civil unrest in the country in decades.
Some store front windows were boarded up due to the threat of violence, and a heavy police presence blocked off streets.
Thousands of people streamed towards the event from dawn, with Covid-19 facemasks mandatory -- but planned temperature checks abandoned due to long queues and large crowds.
Rights activist Al Sharpton and Martin Luther King III, son of the late rights icon, will headline speeches at the Lincoln Memorial, starting late morning, before marcher’s head to the Martin Luther King Memorial.
After mass protests sparked by Floyd's death, outrage has revived over the last week since Blake was shot multiple times in the back during a confrontation with police in the Midwestern city of Kenosha.
Blake survived and is hospitalized, but may never walk again, according to his lawyer.
