Man Who Carried Injured Counter-Protester to Safety Speaks Out for the First Time | 22 Words

Over the weekend, remarkable images of a black man escorting a white counter-protester to safety went viral, and it now stands a poignant symbol for the importance of racial equality.

But now, the man in question has been identified, and he has spoken out about his heroic actions.

Keep scrolling for the full story, and to hear what he had to say on his brave decision...

Over the weekend, London descended into chaos.

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 The U.K capital joined the hundreds of other cities across the world in marching for justice for George Floyd and, ultimately, the Black Lives Matter movement.

But, despite the majority of these protestors carrying out a peaceful protest...

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 Not everyone was there to speak out against racism and inequality.

Among the BLM protestors, there were several groups of far-right counter-protesters.

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 These people, who believe in the "all lives matter" movement, attended the protests over the weekend, but their motives were very different.

Many turned out to "protect" the infamous Winston Churchill statue, which has become the center of controversy and vandalism during the protests.

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 But, while they were guarding the statue, many were drinking heavily and hurling racial slurs at the BLM protestors standing nearby.

And, horrifyingly, some were even seen throwing Nazi salutes...

So the real motives for their attendance were pretty clear.

So, of course, it didn't take long for things to get violent.

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 Countless videos of the mindless violence instigated by these counter-protestors were quick to emerge on social media over the weekend.

The scenes were truly disgraceful.

London police struggled to contain the demonstrations, which were quick to descend into riots.

As BLM protestors retaliated against the far-right demonstrators, tensions escalated...

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 And countless images and videos from the violent streets of London emerged on social media.

But, out of all the photos captured from the riots, there is one that is more poignant than the rest...

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 And people are hailing it as one of the greatest photographs of all time.

The remarkable photo speaks a thousand words...

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 As it shows a BLM protester with an injured counter-protester over his shoulder, and he is carrying him to safety.

The counter-protestor had evidently fallen during the riots...

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 But, rather than allow him to be trampled and further-injured, this man took it upon himself to haul him to safety.

And it didn't take long for this incredible photo to go viral.

Thousands of people took to Twitter to praise the man for his bravery and kindness, despite the awful situation he was in.

The photo has quickly become a symbol of the fight for racial equality.

"See this. This is a man saving another man from being beaten. Race didn’t come into it. He saved him out of pure human compassion."

And now, the heroic protestor has spoken out.

Identified today as London-based personal trainer, Patrick Hutchinson, the brave man has addressed the incident and has explained why he did what he did.

Speaking to the British news outlet, Channel 4 News, Patrick explained:

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 "On arrival, I note, at this point, the guy was already on the floor. It was pretty hectic, it was almost like a stampede."

He knew he couldn't just stand by and watch.

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 Patrick recalled: "There were people trying to protect him, but unsuccessfully. And then the guys [BLM protestors] went in there and put a little cordon around him to stop him receiving any more physical harm."

This is when Patrick took action.

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 "As they did that, I thought 'well, if he stays here he's not going to make it.' So I just went under, scooped him up, put him on my shoulders, and sort of started marching towards the police with him, whilst all the guys [BLM protestors] were surrounding me and protecting me."

But, disgustingly, Patrick continued to be attacked as he carried the counter-protestor out to safety.

via: Twitter

 "I could actually feel strikes and hits as I was carrying him."

But, on explaining why he decided to risk his own life to save the life of a potentially racist counter-protestor, he said:

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 "If the other 3 police officers that were standing around when George Floyd was murdered, had thought about intervening and stopping their colleague from doing what he was doing like what we did, George Floyd would still be alive today."

You can watch his full interview here.

Patrick Hutchinson is a truly inspiring man, and we can only hope that other protestors will follow in his footsteps. For more on the BLM protests, keep scrolling...