A total 107 people have been arrested after clashes between officers and demonstrators at a “Kill the Bill” protest in central London on Saturday, the Metropolitan Police has said.
Projectiles were thrown around as Met Police officers pushed protesters away in an effort to disperse crowds. Earlier, the police said that around 10 of its officers had received injuries during the operation.
In an update on Sunday, the Met Police said the arrests were made for a variety of offences including breach of the peace; violent disorder; assault on police and breaches of Covid legislation.
In one instance, a woman was arrested on suspicion of possession of an offensive weapon after a knife was recovered.
“While our advice to people remains not to attend large gatherings, the vast majority of people who attended central London yesterday [Saturday], adhered to social distancing, and engaged and listened to my officers. However, as the afternoon wore on it became clear that a small number of people were intent on remaining to cause disruption to law-abiding Londoners,” Commander Ade Adelekan, who led the policing operation in Parliament Square in London, said on Sunday. “We remain in the middle of a global pandemic and we have made great progress in controlling the spread of the virus; we will not allow the selfish actions of a small number of people to put Londoners progress in jeopardy,” he added.