A PROTEST in support of the Black Lives Matter movement due to take place today at 2pm in Limerick has moved online, with organisers asking supporters to show their support on social media.
Organisers of the event have asked those who would have attended the demonstration to share images at 2pm today, Saturday, June 6, of “anything that symbolizes solidarity with the black lives matter movement” and use the hashtag #BlackLivesMatterLimerick.
In a message from the event organisers on Facebook, they announced they were “extremely sorry to announce that the physical protest we had planned for this weekend will be cancelled and changed to an online protest”.
The statement reads, “In light of Health Minister Simon Harris’ comments regarding the cancelling of protests and Gardai launching an investigation into leaders and attendees of a previous Black Lives Matter solidarity event, it has become clear that the State was not prepared to facilitate us organising this protest.
“We do not accept the logic that it is not possible to protest safely in the context of Covid-19, and we do not accept that us cancelling this event is in any way any sort of precedent.
“The right to protest is as much of an essential democratic right as voting, and it cannot be suspended indefinitely. All threats to prosecute the organisers of the Black Lives Matter protest in Dublin last Monday must be dropped.
“The fact that big retail shops have been allowed to open on Monday next week, two days after our protest was scheduled, shows that efforts to stop anti-racist demonstrations going ahead were politically motivated and not just a question of public safety.”
The organisers have asked all those who were planning on attending the event to take part by showing support online “on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Tik Tok or whichever social media suits you best”.
By moving online the group is “hoping to create as much online noise” as possible to help spread awareness of the cause “not only in Limerick but throughout the whole of Ireland”.
