Buildings across Greater Manchester will light up in solidarity with George Floyd and BLM tonight

Civic buildings across Greater Manchester are going to light up tonight in solidarity with George Floyd and the Black Lives Matter movement. 

An unarmed African-American, George Floyd was filmed struggling to breathe while a white male police officer knelt on his neck for almost nine minutes until he eventually stopped breathing. 

The death of Mr Floyd has sparked huge protests against racism across the world and a resurgence in the Black Lives Matter campaign. 

Manchester is hosting a peaceful protest on Saturday, June 6th at 1pm in Picadilly Garden. The protest organisers have urged anyone who wants to get involved to come prepared and abide by all social distancing rules.

There are many other ways to fight racism and support the Black Lives Matter movement from reading to watching films, donating to charities and donating to the bailout funds of protestors.

One very peaceful way Greater Manchester has got involved to show its support and ‘solidarity with the Black community here and elsewhere’ is by lighting up civic buildings across the 10 boroughs this evening, including Bolton Town Hall.

Greater Manchester Combined Authority released a statement regarding the death of Mr Floyd: “The callous murder of George Floyd on the streets of Minneapolis has sent shockwaves around the world which are being powerfully and painfully felt here in Greater Manchester.”

They continued: “As Leaders, we want to express our revulsion at the manner of George’s death, our sympathy with his family and our complete solidarity with the Black community here and elsewhere.

“We know the anger and the agony is real. Discrimination continues every day, not just in the USA but in the UK too. People are tired of having to fight it.

“To show our sympathy with George’s family, and our support for Black Lives Matter, we have today agreed to coordinate the lighting of civic buildings across our 10 boroughs on Friday evening, following on from the example of Trafford Council, and Salford and Manchester City Councils.”