Stand Up to Racism West Wales protest at Picton Playing Fields, Haverfordwest

Speakers from groups campaigning for justice for two teenagers who drowned in the UK last summer will also address the demonstration.

Since the death of George Floyd after he was arrested by Minneapolis Police, Stand Up to Racism West Wales has been holding regular ‘take the knees’ in Haverfordwest and Pembroke Dock in solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement.

“These are to highlight systemic racism in the UK and to demand change including an end to all racism in our society,” said a spokesperson for the group.

“We have campaigned for a public inquiry into disproportionate deaths in the BAME community from Covid 19, and end to racially profiled stop and search by the police, the end of racist scapegoating and support for campaigns against miscarriages of justice and racism.”

Tomorrow the group has invited representatives from two campaigns to speak at the protest in Haverfordwest.

Hilary Brown and her granddaughter Cheyenne will speak about the tragic death of 13-year-old Christopher Kapessa in Mountain Ash and their campaign for justice.

Christopher drowned in the River Cynon, near Fernhill, Rhondda Cynon Taff,in July last year. His family has accused the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) and South Wales Police of institutional racism for their handling of the investigation into his death.

Also speaking will be Shahed Ali from the Justice 4 Shukri Abdi campaign. Shukri was a 13-year-old refugee from Somalia who drowned in the River Irwell in Bury, Greater Manchester, in June 2019.