Rhyl man voices shock after receiving racist letter in response to his Black Lives Matter banner

A man from Rhyl has voiced his shock after receiving a racist letter in response to a banner he displayed outside his house.

Sohaib Sohail put a Black Lives Matter sign outside the property on Saturday morning to show his support for the cause.

It followed a series of protests being held across North Wales, including in his hometown, in response to the death of George Floyd in the US who lost his life after a police officer knelt on his neck for several minutes.

Although many people across the region have shown their backing for the anti-racist message, Sohaib made an upsetting discovery while checking his post yesterday.

A piece of paper had been pushed through his letterbox with a drawing of a swastika and a note reading: “Whites rule. Take that black banner down.”

Sohaib said: “After the tragic death of George Floyd and experiencing racism myself throughout my life, I felt like there needed to be awareness on the subject.

“It was getting shared on social media and I felt like that was achieving a lot but may not target the demographic which needs to hear the message.

“Having a property in the middle of town centre I felt like it I had to use it as platform.

“Yesterday I checked the post and saw the letter. I had opened it and was shocked but not surprised.

“I took my frustration to Twitter to use it to spread more awareness and received a lot of positive messages.

“I’m hoping it opens peoples eyes to the racism which is still an on going issue.”

Sohaib said he had previously received verbal racist abuse, but had never been targeted in this manner before.

He is now encouraging people to donate to the Black Lives Matter fund by visiting: https://uk.gofundme.com/f/ukblm-fund