London police said they arrested more than 100 people on Saturday after far-right protesters organized a counter demonstration against anti-racist activists who clashed with officers.
Thousands of people have challenged coronavirus restrictions to gather on and around Parliament Square in the center of the capital.
This required a “major” police operation, according to the Metropolitan Police Service, adding that they had encountered “pockets of violence directed against our agents”.
Television footage showed agitators throwing punches, bottles and smoke bombs at the agents as well as fights with rival protesters.
The Met had arrested over 100 people at 2,000 GMT for violent unrest, assault on officers and possession of an offensive weapon. Six police officers were slightly injured.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson has said that “racist attacks have no place in our streets” and that “anyone who attacks the police will be fully respected by the law”.
While images of the disorder have been widely disseminated on social media, he wrote on Twitter: “Racism has no place in the UK and we must work together to make it a reality.”
“Keep our monuments”
A demonstration by the Black Lives Matter group scheduled for Saturday had been postponed to Friday to avoid clashes with the far-right counter-demonstration.
The anti-racism group Hope Not Hate had warned before Saturday that gangs of thugs attached to certain English football clubs were also planning to attend the counter-demonstration on Saturday.
Paul Golding, leader of the British far-right political group Britain First, who saw his members imprisoned for hate crimes and banned from Facebook, was among the first to arrive at Parliament Square.
Golding, who was convicted last month of an offense against the law on terrorism, told the press agency of the National Press Association that he had been “guarding our monuments”.
Earlier, a march of hundreds of Black Lives Matter activists across the capital took place, ending in Trafalgar Square near where the counter-protesters gathered and in the midst of a heavy police presence .
“Shameful scenes”
Police commander Bas Javid said a number of protesters had failed to disperse at 4:00 p.m. GMT.
“There have been pockets of violence against our officers. It is completely unacceptable and I condemn the people involved,” he added.
Police also launched an investigation after a photo posted on social media appeared to show a man urinating at a memorial to Keith Palmer, the police officer killed in the 2017 terrorist attack outside Parliament.
The Met “would gather all the evidence at our disposal and take appropriate action,” said Javid.
The mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, praised the force for “doing a fantastic job of controlling the situation”.
“Millions of Londoners will have been disgusted by the shameful scenes of violence, desecration and racism presented by right-wing extremists who have gathered in our city today,” he added.
“Absolutely disgusting”
Britain saw a wave of protests over the death last month during an American police arrest of George Floyd, an unarmed African American, which sparked outrage worldwide.
Most of them were peaceful, but protests in London over the weekend turned violent, while crowds in Bristol in the south-west of England knocked over a statue of a merchant. 17th century slaves, Edward Colston, and threw her into the harbor.
Several central London memorials were shipped as a precaution before Saturday’s protests. They included one of the leaders of the Second World War, Winston Churchill – who last weekend was disfigured by the word “racist” – and the war sanctuary of the cenotaph.
Former Conservative MP Nicholas Soames, Churchill’s grandson, denounced the “very small, extremely explosive group” responsible for the vandalism of the weekend.
But he told the Daily Telegraph: “The idea that the hard right should stand guard over Churchill is absolutely disgusting.
“It’s like a society that has lost its compass.”
(This story has not been edited by GalacticGaming staff and is automatically generated from a syndicated feed.)
