Black Lives Matter protest organiser has had her fine paid for by a crowdfund

The £500 fine for breaking Covid restrictions was crowdfunded by the community in under three hours.

A founding member of Black Lives Matter Cardiff and Vale was issued a £500 fine for organising five days of protests outside Cardiff Bay police station.

Bianca Ali received the fine for allegedly breaking Covid lockdown rules regarding large gatherings of over 30 people outside. A crowdfund set up raised enough to pay the fine in three hours, and ended up raising £1590.

BLM Cardiff alleged on Instagram that the police took two riot vans to her house to issue the fine.

The protesters gathered outside Cardiff Bay police station in response to the death of a 24-year-old man shortly after he was released from custody.

Mohamud Mohammed Hassan was arrested on Friday, January 8^th for a ‘breach of the peace’. He was released in the morning on Saturday and passed away later that day.

Protesters stood in the road outside Cardiff Bay police station between January 12^th and 16^th, where they mourned the death of Mr. Hassan and demanded the police release the bodycam footage of his arrest.

While at the protest, Ms. Ali said: “Even if I am the only woman stood here for a whole week, I’m gonna do it.”

The protesters chanted slogans such as: “No justice, no peace,” and “Whose lives matter? Black lives matter.”

One protester said: “If there’s no point [in protesting] we might as well all die right now.”

Mr. Hassan’s family have alleged that he was assaulted whilst in custody.

His aunt said: “He was released on Saturday morning with lots of wounds on his body and lots of bruises. He didn’t have these wounds when he was arrested and when he came out of Cardiff Bay police station, he had them.”

A petition calling for justice in the wake of Mr. Hassan’s death has reached over 27,000 signatures, and a fundraiser set up by his cousins has raised over £50,000 – plus the extra money raised to pay for Ms Ali’s fine.

South Wales police have described his death as: “sudden and unexplained”. The bodycam footage of the officers involved in his arrest and other key details have been submitted to the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC).

The IOPC investigation into the circumstances surrounding Mr. Hassan’s death is ongoing. As of January 22^nd, no officers involved in his arrest have been suspended.