People in several cities around the world have rallied in solidarity with anti-racism protests in the US, which were triggered after the killing of a Black man at the hands of the police.

Several thousand people marched in Auckland, New Zealand’s largest city, on Monday to protest the killing of George Floyd in the US city of Minneapolis, Minnesota, on May 25.

Floyd, an unarmed Black man, was pinned to the ground by the knee of a white officer in Minneapolis. The officer, who has since been fired and charged for murder, knelt on Floyd’s neck for nearly nine minutes, as Floyd pleaded “I can’t breathe”.

Many people around the world have watched with growing unease the civil unrest in the US after the latest in a series of police killings of Black men, women and children.

The Auckland protesters marched to the US Consulate, where they knelt, holding banners reading “I can’t breathe” and “The real virus is racism”. Hundreds more joined the peaceful protests and vigils elsewhere in New Zealand, where Monday was a public holiday.

At a gathering in central London on Sunday, thousands offered support for American demonstrators, chanting “No justice! No peace!” and waving placards with messages like: “How many more?”

In Brazil, hundreds of people protested crimes committed by the police against Black people in Rio de Janeiro’s working-class neighbourhoods, known as favelas. Police used tear gas to disperse them, forcing some demonstrators to repeat Floyd’s words: “I can’t breathe.”

In Canada, an anti-racism protest degenerated into clashes between Montreal police and some demonstrators.