George Floyd protests: Australian TV crew accosted by demonstrators live on air in London

An Australian TV crew has been accosted by protesters live on air while covering demonstrations in London over the death of George Floyd.

Footage shows 9 News correspondent Ben Avery and his team being confronted by a crowd of around 20 protesters near Downing Street on Wednesday evening.

Video shows Mr Avery and his camera operator fleeing down an alleyway towards parliament as they are approached and heckled by the demonstrators.

Avery said one of the protesters had taken the microphone out of his hand.

“A bit of a clash with us here at the moment,” Avery can be heard saying in audio from the clip.

“OK, guys. What’s happened, we’ve been trying to walk away from the danger here. It’s been following us,” he added.

Avery’s colleagues Karl Stefanovic and Allison Langdon then take over the broadcast and can be heard saying: “That just goes to show how dangerous it is for our reporters, for all journalists on the street at the moment...

“It’s good to see you have police there now. Ben’s dropped his microphone. I spoke to Ben about 10 minutes ago.

“It was peaceful then, but it was just teetering and one thing that really struck me about what Ben said was the police are outnumbered here.

“They are drastically outnumbered.”

The Independent has contacted the Metropolitan Police for comment.

Speaking about the incident around an hour later, Avery said “it was a bit of a shock” and that it was only “one or two” individuals that had caused trouble.

Tens of thousands of people took to the streets of London on Wednesday to protest against racism following the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis, US.

Demonstrators could be heard chanting “no justice, no peace, no racist police” as they marched through capital.

Floyd, an unarmed black man, died by asphyxiation after a white police officer knelt on his neck for over eight minutes, an event that has set off the biggest anti-racism protests seen in the United States since the 1960s civil rights era.

Demonstrators have also come out in cities around the world in solidarity with Floyd and to express anger over racism.

Four sacked Minneapolis police officers have now been charged with a number of offences.

Derek Chauvin, the officer who knelt on Floyd’s neck, has been charged with second-degree murder after initial charges of third-degree murder and manslaughter, according to court documents.

Thomas Lane, J. Alexander Kueng and Tou Thao have also been taken into custody and each charged with aiding and abetting second-degree murder, and aiding and abetting second-degree manslaughter.

Protesters in the US have said they will “stop at nothing” until all four officers are charged with first degree murder.

An Australian reporter and camera-operator were knocked over by police in Washington DC on Tuesday, while covering protests there.

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