People of Colour Isle of Man have responded to the Black Lives Matter movement being brought into an online debate about police stopping an alleged group swim event.

Social media commentators questioned why police cracked down on the Laxey swimmers, but not last June’s Black Lives Matter (BLM) protest march on Douglas prom.

Activist group People of Colour (PoC IoM) pointed out that police had worked with the group to ensure the protest was held safely.

It also noted that it was held on June 9, six days after the announcement of zero active cases in the island, and shortly before restrictions were fully released on June 15.

The group stated:’The BLM protest has no place being brought into this conversation, and we think it unfair to do so. They are two completely separate cases that happened at totally different points in time - one days before the end of our first lockdown, and one in the midst of our toughest lockdown.’

It highlighted social media comments such as: ’It was fine to organise a "gathering" for this [BLM march]... but how dare we support our own.’

The group responded: ’We would like to remind you that the island is a fond home to many black and brown people, and in marching for us, we felt more supported than ever.

’We are also your "own".’

Some social media commentators also voiced support for the swimmers as ’tackling their mental health head on’.

Daniyel Lowden of PoC IoM said one of the biggest concerns was the idea that people were pitting ’one against the other’ when it came to mental health and the BLM movement.

He said the group was ’completely in support of mental health’ and aware that isolation was affecting people negatively. He added: ’Realistically the conversation should be had completely separately - the idea of mental health and what is allowed during the lockdown has nothing to do with a global protest that looked to raise awareness about the way in which being black affects how you navigate through society.’