Campaigners want 'truth, accountability, change and an end to state killings'

Hundreds of bereaved family members, friends and supporters protested in central London on Saturday over deaths after contact with police and state agencies. It was the 24th Annual Remembrance Procession of the United Families and Friends Campaign (UFFC).

The families involved have been bereaved by deaths in police and prison custody and mental health settings.

The protest marched from Trafalgar Square to Downing Street. Five families from UFFC and justice campaigns handed in a letter calling on Rishi Sunak, home secretary Suella Braverman and mayor of London Sadiq Khan to meet to discuss their demands. 

Melanie Leahy, whose son Matthew Leahy died after seven days in the psychiatric system, told Socialist Worker she’s been “searching since 2012 for justice”.

“I stand with the UFFC,” she added. “We are campaigning for the truth, we had 106,000 people sign our petition for Matthew and it was debated in parliament. We want a statutory public inquiry into Essex Mental Health services to question why things were allowed to go so wrong.”

Many speeches outside Downing Street called for transparency in the criminal justice system. Others called for an end to police brutality and a halt to the intimidation of victims’ families. 

Marcia Rigg, sister of Sean Rigg who died while in police custody at the entrance to Brixton police station, and organiser at UFFC said, “Families tirelessly campaign, when they ought to be grieving, for the truth of what happened to their loved one. 

“We have no choice but to publicly challenge the judicial system, sadly at a very high cost to our mental health and well-being, because we do not want any other family to experience the same trauma and years of delays that we have.”

She added, “We are taking this opportunity to inform the newly appointed prime minister of our objectives and demands for truth, justice, accountability, change and an end to state killings.