Clashes at Belgium protest over death of Black man

Hundreds of demonstrators on Wednesday clashed with riot police outside a police station in Brussels, where a Black man has been arrested and died on Saturday.

Protesters, some of them holding Black Lives Matter signs, were throwing objects at riot police and chanted slogans asking for justice and to shed a light on the circumstances of the death.

The 23-year-old Black man, publicly identified only with the initials I.B, was arrested after he tried to run away from police officers who checked a group of people gathered in downtown Brussels despite COVID-19 measures banning public gatherings.

He was taken to the police station where he fainted before being transferred to a hospital, where he died.

Belgian prosecutors said Belgium's Comité P, an independent body overseeing police services, was investigating and a coroner has been appointed to perform an autopsy as well as toxicology tests.

Belgian media reported that I.B. had started to record the police with his smartphone when officers decided to carry out an ID check on him.

The prosecutor's office said it has seized video surveillance images, both from the police station and at the scene of the man's arrest.

His family and lawyer met with the chief prosecutor on Wednesday morning.

The prosecutor's office said they were given guarantees that “all means are and will be implemented to shed light on what happened."