Czech Protests Compare Death of Man in Police Custody to George Floyd

Hundreds of people have gathered in a northern Czech town after a Roma man died after a police officer responding to a call about an altercation knelt on his neck.

Police said the preliminary investigation showed no link between the police intervention and the man’s death. But the angry participants, displaying banners that read “Roma Lives Matter,” condemned the police.

Video footage shows one police officer kneeling on the man’s neck for several minutes in the northern city of Teplice on June 19. The man, who hasn’t been officially named, but has been identified by his family as Stanislav Tomas, later died in an ambulance.

Roma activists and participants of Saturday’s gathering rejected the police explanation. The protesters later marched to a local police station.

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Europe’s main human rights body, the Council of Europe, Amnesty International and the government’s envoy for human rights all called for a thorough and independent investigation {snip}

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