London police pledged Sunday to make ‘further arrests in the coming days and weeks’, following violence at one of the largest-ever far-right protests in Britain, organised by anti-immigration activist Tommy Robinson.
The Metropolitan Police said it had so far arrested 24 people after officers faced ‘unacceptable violence’ trying to control up to 1,50,000 attendees.
That was two fewer arrests than the force last reported, after discovering what it called ‘two duplicate records’.
Twenty-six police were injured, four seriously, following clashes with officers on the fringes of Robinson’s latest ‘Unite the Kingdom’ rally in central London.
Of those arrested, three were women and 21 were men, with the oldest person arrested aged 58 and the youngest 19 years-old, according to the Met.
It said alleged offences included common assault, criminal damage, assault on an emergency worker, and possession of an offensive weapon, noting a number of people were arrested on suspicion of more than one offence.
‘A post-event investigation is under way, with officers working to identify other people involved in disorder with a view to making further arrests in the coming days and weeks,’ the force added.
The attacks on police occurred after some attendees tried to enter so-called ‘sterile areas’ near counter-protesters at a Stand Up to Racism march which had ended close by, according to the Met.
Officers were ‘assaulted with kicks and punches’ while ‘bottles, flares and other projectiles were thrown’, it said in an update Saturday.
Protesters at Robinson’s event had marched over Westminster Bridge before rallying near Downing Street for speeches by figures associated with the far right from across Europe and North America, including Elon Musk.
In an incendiary address via video-link, the billionaire X owner called for the dissolution of Britain’s parliament and the replacement of the centre-left Labour government while claiming ‘violence is coming to you’.
‘You either fight back or you die,’ he told the crowds.
Assessing the various speeches and attendees, anti-racism charity Hope Not Hate called the event unprecedented.
‘Seeing such a big crowd cheering speeches that called for banning all public expression of non-Christian religions, demanded the ‘remigration’ of legal migrants and claimed Britain is being ‘invaded’ and its population ‘replaced’ is unprecedented,’ it said.
‘For anyone worried about the rise of far-right activism and the normalisation of viciously anti-migrant, anti-Muslim sentiment, it could be a sign of dark times to come.’
