Hundreds gather in East London to denounce Racism and Islamophobia

Hundreds of people gathered at the historic Altab Ali park in East London yesterday, as part of a series of demonstrations led by the Black Lives Matter movement across the country.

Hundreds of people gathered at the historic Altab Ali park in East London yesterday, as part of a series of demonstrations led by the Black Lives Matter movement across the country.

To commemorate the fifth anniversary of the death of Mark Duggan, who was shot by police in Tottenham in 2011, demonstrators staged a nationwide “shutdown” blocking traffic on the M4 towards Heathrow airport, in Birmingham, Nottingham and Manchester.

Protesters also led a day of action at Altab Ali Park in Whitechapel with chants of “No Justice, No Peace” as the names of victims who died in police custody including Sean Rigg, Leon Patterson, and Sarah Reed were called out.

The demonstration was organized at Altab Ali Park, which was named after a young Bangladeshi worker who was racially murdered at the park in 1978. His murder sparked an uprising demanding the government to address racism in east London.