Hundreds of protesters took to the streets of Tottenham in north London this afternoon to mark five years since Mark Duggan was shot and killed by a police officer.
Shouting “no justice, no peace,” and holding placards with the names of victims of police shootings, demonstrators gathered at the Broadwater Farm estate where Mr Duggan grew up and marched to Tottenham Police Station.
White doves were released by the group, which included Mr Duggan’s mother Pamela and his aunt Carole.
The procession mirrored a protest carried out two days after 29-year-old Mr Duggan’s death on 4 August 2011 from a gunshot wound to the chest, which sparked days of riots in London and in other major cities.
A public inquest in 2014 found Mr Duggan's death to be a lawful killing, but protesters told the Press Association there was no sign of institutional racism changing in the Metropolitan Police.
Some carried banners saying ‘Black Lives Matter’ and demanded justice for others who have died in controversial circumstances, including Jermaine Baker, who was shot by police in 2015, and Cynthia Jarrett, whose death in 1985 ignited tensions between police and the West Indian community in Tottenham.
Mr Baker’s mother was also present at the demonstration.
Tottenham Rights campaigner Stafford Scott told the crowd that instead of being in a “post-racial society”, it is one in which racism is still “creeping” in.
And he suggested the Met's new counter-terrorism units may target people in Tottenham when they are not fighting terrorism.
In an interview with the Independent, Mr Duggan's best friend Marcus Knox-Hooke said he still hopes police will tell the real story behind his friend's death.
“Look at the result of the Stephen Lawrence’s case or Hillsborough, these things tend to come out after a certain amount of years," he said.
"So, hopefully, one day is sitting down and he thinks: ‘You know what? I need to tell the world what actually happened’."
On Friday, Black Lives Matter protesters blocked traffic on a major road into Heathrow on a day of nationwide action.
Activists in London, Birmingham, Manchester and Nottingham took part in a “nationwide shutdown” to call for greater awareness of discrimination against black and minority ethnic communities on the anniversary of Mr Duggan's death and following a spate of shootings in the US.
