Black Lives Matter demonstrations spread across European cities

Thousands of people attended protests across European cities to voice their anger at police brutality and systematic racism after the killing of a black man in Minneapolis. 

The rolling, global protests reflect rising anger over police treatment of ethnic minorities, sparked by the May 25 killing of George Floyd after a white officer detaining him knelt on his neck for nearly nine minutes with fellow officers beside him.

After a day of anti-racism protests across Europe, Berlin police said 93 people were detained in connection with a demonstration in the German capital, most of them after the main rally had ended.

Police said several officers and one press photographer were injured in Berlin when bottles and rocks were thrown from a crowd that had gathered despite police orders to clear the city's Alexander Square an hour after the demonstration was over.

Berlin police said 28 officers suffered minor injuries in the scuffles. 

In Hamburg, police used pepper spray on protesters and said they were ready to deploy water cannons. One officer was injured, they added.

British anti-racism protesters briefly clashed with mounted police after thousands gathered in central London to voice their anger at police brutality.

After a largely peaceful day, small numbers of protesters near Prime Minister Boris Johnson's Downing Street residence threw bottles at police, and mounted officers charged to push them back.

One officer required hospital treatment after falling from her horse, and nine others were injured, police said.

London's police said late on Saturday they had arrested 14 people and expected that number to rise.

Earlier in the day, more than a thousand protesters marched past the US Embassy on the south bank of the River Thames.

In major Spanish cities, Barcelona and Madrid, anti-racism protests continued with hundreds of participants despite coronavirus restrictions.  

In the French port city of Marseille, police fired tear gas and pepper spray in skirmishes with protesters who hurled bottles and rocks at what had otherwise been an emotional but peaceful demonstration.

The rally drew more than 2,000 people. Protesters took a knee in front of riot officers, gave speeches and chanted before setting off on a march through the city from its famous Old Port on the Mediterranean.

The protest was one of several in France, where Floyd’s death has shone a spotlight on similar French police abuses and given voice to complaints from minorities that they are frequent targets of harassment and worse from French officers.

Police have banned a demonstration in front of the US Embassy, citing the risk of social disorder and the coronavirus pandemic, but the march was held despite the ban, it came off peacefully.

Italians also took streets against police brutality and in solidarity with Floyd. The concerns over a second wave of outbreak raised in the hard-hit European city.