Anti-racism campaigners in the Netherlands are holding a demonstration on the Dam in central Amsterdam on Monday in protest at police violence in the US.

The aim of the demonstration is to both show solidarity with the demonstrators in the US and to focus attention on ‘racism and police violence in the Netherlands and the EU.’

In particular the organisers refer to the death of Mitch Hendriquez, who died following a violent arrest in The Hague five years ago, and the arrest of Jerry Afriyie in Gouda during an anti-Zwarte Piet demonstration in 2014. ‘Black Lives Matter in the Netherlands and Europe too,’ the statement concludes.

‘We aim for a peaceful protest. We are not inciting violent activities, riots, or other forms of protest that can lead to undesirable provocation and aggression,’ the organisers said on Facebook.

‘Be mindful of the safety of the other people protesting, and their close ones who are counting on their safe return. We however do not distance ourselves from the other forms of dissent being expressed in the USA. As Martin Luther King Jr. said: ‘A riot is the language of the unheard’.

Demonstrators are being asked to wear a face mask, keep 1.5 metres distance and to take gloves and hand sanitiser with them to the demonstration, which starts at 5pm.

Other demonstrations are planned and there will be one in The Hague and in Groningen on Tuesday, the organisers say.