‘WE believe that we will win! We believe that we will win!’ chanted one thousand marchers on the United Families and Friends March from Trafalgar Square to Downing Street on Saturday afternoon.
It was the 25th Annual Families and Friends March against deaths at the hands of the state and deaths in police custody.
As the march was assembling, Winifred Campbell told News Line: ‘Ronaldo Johnson, my nephew, died in a police chase three and a half years ago. We’re here as a family, six of us, from Manchester. We’ve made friends from the support group.’
Sanai, an events organiser from East London, told News Line: ‘We need to hold the police accountable for their actions. Killing innocent people shouldn’t be okay. Black people are particularly targeted. I believe we should have a socialist society.
Carina, a refugee charity worker from Scotland, said: ‘I’m here to support families of those affected by police brutality and share in their outrage at the status quo. A shocking number of people of colour are murdered in police custody and virtually no action is taken against the perpetrators or of systemic racism in the police force.
‘I work with refugees who face state violence whilst in the hands of the immigration system that they have to navigate. I think refugees could be welcomed and treated with respect and I believe that a lot of the British public feel the same.’
Tony, a community worker from Hackney, said: ‘In 25 years there’s only been one successful prosecution of a police officer for killing a black person while in custody or while trying to detain them, which says that systemically there’s something wrong.
‘There have been well over 1,000 such deaths, which shows there’s something wrong not only with the police force and also with the judicial system. These systems are built by design. There have been so many reports, but nothing has changed. So we need new systems designed to be equitable from the get go.’
Zoe Gracy said: ‘My husband died in the back of a police van in Lincolnshire in 2021. There are three minutes of police bodycam footage missing from inside the van and then the next minute you see them performing CPR on him next to the van. But we don’t know what happened inside the van. We want answers.’
Speaking at the front of the march in Trafalgar Square before it set off, Marcia Rigg, sister of Sean Rigg who died at the hands of the police in Brixton police station in 2008, said: ‘We are a coalition of families and friends across the UK who have all suffered at the hands of the state.
‘We are not just here for the Kaba family, but we are here for the Kaba family. We are here for all the families.’
She then led the chanting as the march set off: ‘No justice, no peace! Hey ho, hey ho – this racist state has got to go! We believe that we will win! We believe that we will win!’
There were scores of banners and placards behind the ‘United Families and Friends Friends Campaign No more Deaths in Police Custody’ banner as the march made its way to Downing Street, where a delegation of six, including a relative of Chris Kaba, delivered a handwritten letter addressed to PM Starmer.
At the Rally in Whitehall next to Downing Street, Germaine Phillips, a mental health nurse from Huddersfield, said: ‘Our campaign supports families.
‘My son, Adrian McDonald, was 34 years old when he died in December 2014. Police set a dog upon him and Tasered him for 24 seconds. He said he couldn’t breathe but an officer said “you can breathe because you are talking”. The inquest said he died as a result of the stress of the incident. It’s a pleasure to be here today to share my story. The system is set up to fail us, to fail us all.’
Brenda Weinberg, founder of the United Families and Friends Campaign, said: ‘I started the march 25 years ago to honour my brother Brian Douglas, who was the victim of the introduction of long-handled batons.
‘Every year for 25 years more and more people have joined the campaign. Are we not entitled to justice? This is the time for change. One more death is one more too many.’
Mohamed Bashir told the rally: ‘My brother Mouayed Bashir was killed on 17th February 2021. He was suffering a mental health episode and my parents called an ambulance. But instead, the police turned up.
‘In January this year the inquest revealed that he was a victim of state violence. We’re going to fight to the bitter end. South Wales Police have their hands covered in blood.’
Keshia Johnson said: ‘My brother, Ronaldo Johnson, was killed in a police chase. We saw a clip showing that Ronaldo’s life could have been saved but instead the police officer didn’t attempt to save him and he was left to die. Greater Manchester Police have been doing this all the time.’
Qian Zheng, partner of Benjamin Zephaniah, the highly acclaimed black poet from Handsworth, Birmingham, who died last December, said: ‘Benjamin would have been so sad to have been here today because we are still fighting for this, but also so happy because it shows such a unity in struggle.’
His cousin, Michael Powell, died in police custody, at Thornhill Road police station in Birmingham, in September 2003.
She read a poem by Benjamin: ‘Dis policeman keeps on kicking me to death,’ drawing enormous applause. She concluded with a pledge from her husband: ‘They can jail my body but they cannot jail my mind,’ adding: ‘He always fought against injustice and the ridiculous inequalities we are seeing in society.’
Temi concluded the rally, saying: ‘I feel so heartwarmed today, especially after this week which has been a devastating week for the family of Chris Kaba.
‘There was an opportunity for justice this week but it was rejected. On 5th September 2022 Chris Kaba was executed, shot in the head by a supersonic bullet at 800 metres per second.
‘His daughter was born just days before his funeral, the opportunity of his daughter to have a relationship with her father was stolen by the police.
‘Just this week we have seen Chris Kaba assassinated again, this time by the state media, with their hideous character assassination.
‘We stand united because we know that there is due process which we are fighting for and we will continue to fight for. The police in this country cannot be the judge, jury and executioner. They must and they will be stopped.
‘On the day of the verdict into Chris Kaba’s assassination the family said “it’s like they’ve killed him again”. We have a message to all who will listen – “We know the truth and we will establish it. This can never be justified”.
‘I’m holding Keir Starmer to account. Starmer is the head of this system and he must pay.
‘All we have is each other. We have a shared value system and we believe we are in the right. We are fighting for what is right. We will not stop fighting for justice for Chris Kaba and all these families.
‘This week is just another painful reminder of what we already knew, that the system can never hold itself accountable. We just have to get organised and we will win a better society.’
The rally ended with everyone chanting: ‘We believe that we will win! We believe that we will win!’
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