Black Lives Matter In Switzerland Ends In Chaos

Illustration (Unsplash)

JAKARTA - In the past week, demonstrations entitled "Black Lives Matter" (BLM) are still coloring major cities in Switzerland. Thousands of people in the City of Zurich seemed to take to the streets voicing anti-racism so that the brutality experienced by George Floyd would not happen again in the future.

Although there are rules that emphasize banning gatherings of more than 300 people in preventing COVID-19, however, protesters still arrived and marched neatly to voice justice for Floyd on Saturday, June 13. Launching CNA, the protesters who came in uniforms wearing black clothes and filled the streets of the city of Zurich.

Anti-racism messages through posters were scattered. Some of them include the messages "Black Lives Matter," "Racism is a pandemic," and messages that refer to the late Floyd's last words, "I can't breathe."

Not only carrying messages from Floyd's death. A number of protesters also brought along posters of Mike Ben Peter, who was also a black citizen who was killed because of police brutality in Lausanne. The way he died was similar to Floyd's, which was paralyzed to the ground.

Therefore, the organizers of the demonstration revealed that the action this time was taking place to show a wider concern in opposing police violence. Moreover, the connection between brutality and violence is often used by the police to show their racism. Not only in America, but in Switzerland too.

As a precaution against COVID-19, which is still endemic, the government owners have set up several blockades around the town square. This was allegedly so that Swiss citizens who took part in the action could use hand sanitizers first and obliged them to wear masks before joining the crowd.

The action, which was initially peaceful, gradually became less conducive as several hundred people started throwing stones, bottles and other objects at the police. As a result, an officer was injured and a number of people were arrested by the Zurich police during the action.