Sky News has issued an apology after one of its presenters mistakenly referred to a demonstration following the killing of Chris Kaba as a gathering of mourners for Queen Elizabeth II.
The 24-year-old was shot by an armed Metropolitan Police officer in South London on Monday night and later died in hospital, with the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPS) since confirming they have opened a homicide investigation.
On Saturday afternoon, thousands gathered in central London for a protest march for Kaba, with many holding placards and signs with messages including “Justice for Chris Kaba” and “Black Lives Matter”.
However, when aerial footage of the march was shown on Sky News, an anchor incorrectly referred to those in attendance as mourners for the Queen.
“Look at that, look at the crowds of people winding their way down… they’ll be working their way up the Mall, and what a walk there is,” the reporter said.
“There are thousands of people lining that route, it really is an incredible sight. They’ll work their way up the Mall, very slowly, meeting new friends along the way, talking about their journey here, their memories of the Queen, their good wishes for the new King.”
Soon afterwards, a clip of the mistake was shared online, and was met with an immediate backlash on social media:
After an on-air clarification, a Sky News rep apologised for the mistake.
A spokesperson told the I news outlet: “We apologise for a mistake made earlier today which accidentally misidentified aerial pictures of a protest march for Chris Kaba as a large gathering paying tribute to Queen Elizabeth II. We have also issued a correction on air to clarify the footage previously shown.”
Among those in attendance at the protest on Saturday were MPs and Diane Abbott and Bell Ribeiro-Addy, as well as chart-topping musician Stormzy, who addressed the crowd during the demonstration.
“Everyone here today, I would encourage everyone to have stamina, and I know it’s a very difficult thing to say… But when these people do these things, they get away with it, because what happens is we do this once, we get tired, we tweet, we get tired, we do it for a week, we do it for two weeks, we do it for a month, and they know we get tired,” the Vossi Bop star said.
“What they’ve done is they’ve killed someone. We can’t sugarcoat it.”
The protest for Kaba – who had been due to become a father within the next few months – began in Parliament Square and ended outside Scotland Yard.
An IOPS spokesperson said on Friday evening: “Mr Kaba died after a single shot was fired by an MPS officer from the specialist firearms command while police attempted to stop and contain the vehicle he was driving.
“This followed the activation of an automatic number plate recognition camera which indicated the vehicle was linked to a firearms incident in previous days. The vehicle Mr Kaba was driving was not registered to him.
“Our investigation team is continuing to gather and review a large amount of evidence, however as this is now a criminal investigation, we are limited in what further information we can provide.
“The launch of a criminal investigation does not mean that criminal charges will necessarily follow.”
The police watchdog had already confirmed that no gun was found in the Audi that Mr Kaba had been driving when he was fatally shot.
Kaba’s family has said in a statement, issued by their lawyer: “The family now await the outcome of that investigation, but seek a charging decision in this case in weeks or a few months, not years.
“In the meantime, the family demand that the Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis immediately suspend the firearms officer, pending the outcome of the investigation.”