About 300 people participated in a peaceful protest against police violence and racism in the United States Thursday night at a candlelight vigil in front of the U.S. Embassy in Mexico City.
Dressed in black, wearing masks and holding candles, the assembled crowd of mostly young people paid tribute to George Floyd, the African-American man who was killed on May 25 in Minneapolis, Minnesota, allegedly by a police officer.
U.S. citizens, Mexicans and other foreigners expressed their solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement and added their voices to protests that have occurred in all 50 U.S. states and in major cities around the world.
“We are here to remember the black lives that have been killed by the police in the United States where racism is an integral part of its systems and institutions,” said one of those attending the vigil.
But on Friday June 5th, it was a whole different situation outside the US Embassy in Mexico City.
Masked men and women protesting police abuses vandalized buildings and threw stones at the U.S. embassy in Mexico City.
People allegedly protesting over the death of George Floyd descended on the walled-off compound housing the US embassy in Mexico and proceeded to tag the streets and throw projectiles at the building.
Dozens gathered on the street outside the diplomatic building, which is located on iconic Paseo de la Reforma, Mexico City.
Videos show the protesters throwing stones and other projectiles at the building, which was protected by metal walls, installed to shield it from unrest as demonstrations turned violent.
Masked citizens also physically hit the wall and tagged it with messages in support of the protest.
Some were photographed holding anarchist signs, chanting anarchist slogans and those in support of international struggle.
