LONDON (Reuters) – “That’s not what we do!”
FILE PHOTO: A protester carries an injured counter-protester to safety, near the Waterloo station during a Black Lives Matter protest following the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis police custody, in London, Britain, June 13, 2020. REUTERS/Dylan Martinez
Reuters photographer Dylan Martinez heard the words ring out during chaotic scenes in London on Saturday, when mostly peaceful anti-racist demonstrations turned into violent scuffles with counter-protesters in the area.
Then he saw the man who had uttered them – a black protester emerging from the melee carrying an injured white man in a ‘fireman’s lift’ over his shoulder.
The picture he took has gone viral on social media and featured in news bulletins, capturing a moment of high drama that jars with the broader narrative – of anti-racist and far-right protesters fighting each other.
“I saw a skirmish and someone falling to the ground,” Martinez recalled of the moment near Waterloo Bridge, in central London, as he covered anti-racism protests that have flared up in the city.
The two men then appeared through the crowd.
“The crowd parted right in front of me. I was in the right place at right time, and incredibly lucky from that point of view