The Black Lives Matter protests taking place across Wales this weekend

Thousands of people across Wales have gathered to protest in support of the Black Lives Matters movement.

Worldwide protests over the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis are heading into their second weekend amid public anger over his death.

Bute Park in Cardiff is one of the locations which saw around 2,000 people peacefully protest as a way of raising awareness of the issue.

Crowds generally kept to two-metre social distancing and many wore face coverings and gloves, while only a small police presence watched over the peaceful protest.

Tensions only appeared when a local councillor, Ali Ahmed, was forced off a podium by angry organisers and booed by the crowd after declaring "All lives matter", a slogan seen to many as a criticism of the Black Lives Matter movement.

Mr Ahmed later apologised, saying he was unaware that the slogan had caused offence in the past, and that his intention was to support the Black Lives Matter movement.

Thousands of people have turned up to protest in Cardiff. Credit: Charanpreet Khaira

Cardiff Councillor, Bablin Molik, who is at the protest in Bute Park said "people are socially distancing and face masks are being offered."

Thousands are expected to attend anti-racism demonstrations across the UK, but health officials and ministers are warning against mass gatherings due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Conservative MS, Andrew RT Davies, has criticised the protests and social distancing.

Crowds also gathered outside the National Waterfront Museum in Swansea on Saturday afternoon. Meanwhile, other demonstrations were held in Bangor, Wrexham and Caerphilly, while one in Newport is scheduled for Thursday.

Multiple cities and towns across Wales are supporting the movement. Credit: Charanpreet Khaira

The atmosphere at the protest was electric. As a person of colour myself, it was amazing seeing such a sense of community and so many passionate young people of colour. People were trying their best to social distance but it was hard as there were thousands of people.

There were hundreds if not thousands of people at the march, and the idea was to give people of colour a platform to share stories about their experience of racism. One man told a story about his experience as a student in Cardiff when he was stopped by the police. Another woman spoke about a group of men making monkey noises at her. It was powerful hearing people talking about their experiences, people were chanting black lives matter and we can't breathe.