Man scales crane to hang Black Lives Matter flag in east London
Area cordoned off by police after man scales crane in Canning Town
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.A man has climbed a crane in East London to unfurl a Black Lives Matter flag.
The surrounding area of Canning Town has been cordoned off by police, with emergency services at the scene.
The flag reads “Black lives matter just as much as whites, dads lives matter just as much as mums, enough is enough”.
The flag has been attached to the crane, which is situated on Halsville Quarter, close to Canning Town station.
Read more:
- Race report news – live: Review ‘glorifies slave trade’ says Labour MP
- ‘Institutional racism doesn’t exist,’ government’s race commission suggests
- Who are the authors behind government’s race report?
- Race campaigners ‘deeply, massively let down’ after government’s report
- It’s right to get rid of ‘Bame’ – but this report minimises racism in the process
Jem Collins, who was present at the scene, told The Independent:
“It’s really quite a big area they’ve got cordoned off, and there are a lot of police about.
“The cranes are really high – I’m not sure how well the photos do it justice. It took me a while to work out what people were even looking at and what the banner even said.”
A video on YouTube - spanning more than six and a half hours - shows a man scale the crane and then unfurling a large flag.
The one-man-protest is being staged as an Independent report by the Commission on Race and Ethnic Disparities - which was launched in the wake of the Black Lives Matter movement of 2020 - ruled that “institutional racism doesn’t exist” within the UK.
The report - by which race equality campaigners say they are “deeply, massively let down” - has received a significant level of backlash.
Labour MP David Lammy, who led a review into racial disparities in the criminal justice system in 2017, said the report was an “insult to anybody and everybody across this country who experiences institutional racism”.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments