Two charged after dozens arrested at rival London protests over weekend
Two people have been charged after 43 arrests as tens of thousands of people gathered for rival protests in central London at the weekend.
Stuart Adams, 49, of Aberconway Road, Merton, was charged with a racially aggravated public order offense after allegedly shouting racist abuse at a police officer.
He attended Tommy Robinson’s UK show on Saturday and will appear at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on Monday.
The second person charged was at the other protest, the pro-Palestinian Nakba Day demonstration. Dara Harbison, 26, of Brighton, East Sussex, is charged with assaulting an emergency worker, criminal damage and possession of cannabis and will appear at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on July 6.
Of those arrested so far, one person was recalled to prison, 25 were released on bail, three were told they would face no further action, three were released under investigation and two were charged with failing to appear in court for previous offenses unrelated to the protests.
Four penalty notices were also issued for disorderly conduct, three for urination and one for someone who drunkenly called officers a “thrower”.
A further arrest was made on Monday when Met officers went to Plymouth to detain a 28-year-old man on suspicion of inciting racial hatred. He was allegedly photographed at a Nakba Day rally holding a sign calling for people to be hanged.
It is estimated that around 80,000 people attended Saturday’s protests; about 60,000 of them at Tommy Robinson’s Unite the Kingdom march and up to 20,000 at the Nakba Day rally. Thousands of people traveled to the capital for the FA Cup final at Wembley Stadium.
All in all, it was thought to be one of the busiest days of police work in recent years, with around 4,000 police officers on duty alongside armored vehicles, police horses, dogs and drones.
At the Tommy Robinson protest, flocks of demonstrators set off from Kingsway carrying Union flags, while others held flags of opposition to the Iranian regime.
Protesters gathered before the march to support the far-right activist, whose real name is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, loudly chanting “We want Starmer out” and “Tommy, Tommy, Tommy Robinson”.
Many of the protesters wore red hats with “Make Britain Great Again (Mega)” banners, and others draped themselves in Union flags. Some people in the front rows of the march chanted “Jesus is king” while holding wooden crosses.
A total of 43 people were arrested; 20 of these were linked to the Unite the Kingdom protest and 12 to the Nakba protest. The remaining 11 arrests have no connection to either group yet.
Live facial recognition cameras were also used at a location in Camden, where police said they would be used by many protesters attending the UK rally.
More than 50 unidentified suspects attended a UK demonstration in September that saw ugly clashes with police.
