Black Mirror’s Will Poulter condemns ‘dumb white people’ for ‘hijacking’ George Floyd protests

Actor has been tweeting about white rioters in Detroit

Will Poulter has called out white rioters for “hijacking” the George Floyd protests in America.

Protests have been raging across the United States in recent days, after the death of Floyd, an unarmed black man who died after his neck was kneeled on by a white police officer in Minneapolis.

Black Mirror actor Poulter condemned white protesters for exacerbating the riots. He tweeted: “The idea that some Black owned businesses could get destroyed by some dumb white people hijacking a rebellion against racism to create chaos for chaos’ sake is beyond tragic.”

Poulter – who also starred in the 2017 film Detroit, about a group of rogue police officers during the 1967 riots in the city – then retweeted a post from a democratic politician based in Michigan, which said: “To the white people who took part in vandalism in Detroit last night after the peaceful protest was over: YOU are part of the problem.

“We need to be allies right now, not co-opt demonstrations to exacerbate the issue. The black community faces the consequences, not you. Stop it.”

On Friday (29 May) a 19-year-old man was killed in Detroit after someone in an SUV fired multiple times into a crowd of protesters.

Poulter is one of many celebrities who has been tweeting about Floyd’s death and the subsequent protests. Rihanna shared an Instagram post saying she was “haunted” by the story, while Beyoncé said she felt “broken and disgusted” by racism in America.