On Monday 8th June a peaceful protest occurred in Hoddesdon town centre lead by the Black Lives Matter movement. A movement that did not begin in 2020, but came to the forefront of mainstream media again after Minneapolis police officers including Derek Chauvin murdered George Floyd through asphyxiation. This protest was disrupted by a group of “counter protestors”.

There is an overwhelming amount of video evidence online showing these people making monkey noises, shouting “go back to Africa” and other harmful racial slurs. As well as sexually harassing young women attending. The BLM protestors were socially distancing and the large majority wearing PPE, however the people stood by the war memorial were regularly baiting the protestors to fight them. Needless to say what occurred there was a crime.

Despite having police officers mere feet from the abusive persons no arrests have been made and no investigation into the racist rhetoric or the complacency of Hertfordshire police has been conducted.

A petition has been created in hopes that the nation can come together as a force of change to give justice to those effected by what occurred in Hoddesdon.

In Solidarity with Black Lives Matter