At least 2,000 people assembled outside the Southbank Club on Wandsworth Road in south London on 16 April to demonstrate against the death of reggae artist Smiley Culture.
Smiley was killed during a police raid on his home. The four officers present claim he stabbed himself while making a cup of tea!
The demonstration, clearly a tribute to Smiley Culture, was also an expression of anger at the role of the police. Socialist Party members present called for an independent community and trade union inquiry into the death.
The sheer number of people attending from campaigns of families and friends of others, mainly black men, who have been killed in police custody, was striking.
The lively demonstration, chanting the slogan ‘no justice, no peace!’, marched to New Scotland Yard where it heard from members of Smiley Culture’s family and other victims of police oppression.
