Police arrest 43 at ‘unite the kingdom’ and pro-Palestine marches in London | UK news
Tommy Robinson’s “unite the kingdom” rally failed to get the large numbers it wanted to march in London; police were confident the crowd at Saturday’s protest was less than half that at an event last year.
The far-right rally took place on the same day as a pro-Palestinian march, and the Metropolitan police said 43 people were arrested during the two events.
Police said 20 of those arrested attended the UTK march, including nine people arrested for alleged hate crimes.
A total of 12 people were detained at the pro-Palestinian march, including two who were arrested on allegations of hate crime. It was stated that the other 11 arrests had no connection with either group.
In September, a similar march led by Robinson, whose real name is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, drew an estimated 150,000 people to the capital. The Met estimated 60,000 people attended Saturday’s event; this was still a fairly large crowd for a British protest, but well below the million or more the organizers had hoped for.
Robinson denied on stage that it was a far-right movement, saying: “We are a cultural movement.”
He spoke about converting to Christianity after spending time in prison last year, and the event featured Christian iconography such as crosses and invited the crowd to recite the Lord’s prayer.
Nick Lowles, of the anti-racist organization Hope Not Hate, said the emphasis on Christianity could partly explain the decline in attendance at Robinson’s march.
“Some of the crowd don’t buy Christian products, most of them are not religious,” he said. “There was grumbling in the crowd. It was like he was trying to appeal to the US audience.”
Lowles also said that last September’s march was heavily supported by Elon Musk, but he did not do so to the same extent this time. Last year’s larger march followed last summer’s agitation and radicalization following protests over the placement of asylum seekers in hotels.
Police believe the number of arrests in both incidents was relatively low given the size of the crowd, and the Met said both incidents “ended without significant incident”.
Among those arrested at the “unite the kingdom” rally were allegations of hateful insults towards civil servants.
It was alleged that a police officer of minority ethnic background was told to “go home”, two police officers were subjected to homophobic abuse for a period of time, and another police officer was told to “take off your religion and go away”.
Two men, who have already been arrested on suspicion of other offences, allegedly racially abused police officers by directing them at the N-word.
A man has been arrested on allegations of assault causing actual bodily harm after he allegedly punched someone in the face after boarding a bus that was about to take pro-Palestinian protesters home and being told to leave.
Other arrests include three men holding signs reading “Fuck Islam” and “Jesus is king, fuck Islam.” Earlier, the crowd had been led from the stage chanting “Christ is king.”
A woman was arrested near the King Charles I roundabout in Whitehall for allegedly possessing an offensive weapon, a sword approximately 1 meter long.
The Met said five officers were allegedly assaulted but none required hospital treatment.
Saturday’s far-right protest contained far less police hostility than the protest in September, when more than 20 officers were attacked and more than 50 suspects were still wanted on various allegations.
22 people were arrested during the FA Cup final played at Wembley on Saturday.
A person was arrested at a pro-Palestinian march for carrying a banner reading “Globalize the Intifada”. It is claimed that this statement is a call to violence against Jews.
One person was arrested for carrying a banner pledging support for the banned Palestine Movement, and another for carrying a banner saying “We will not surrender, we will not achieve victory, we will not become martyrs.”
Amid allegations that police suppressed legitimate protests, seven more videos of written slogans and chants are being examined if they exceed the criminal threshold of anti-Semitic hate speech.
The Met said the pro-Palestinian march numbered between 15,000 and 20,000, which included anti-racism counter-protesters who joined the march led by Robinson. March organizers claim 250,000 people attended.
Police enforced strict conditions for both events, and conversations on stages were monitored for possible violations. The demonstration, in which three burqa-clad men appeared on the UTK stage and stunned the crowd before revealing themselves as white women, was ruled not a crime.
The Met deployed a total of 4,000 officers, some brought in from other forces, in what it said was one of its biggest operations in recent years.
