Brixton street party leaves officers injured
NEARLY 30 officers were injured after a street party descended into violence, according to a police chief.
Footage on social media showed police vehicles being smashed and officers pelted with bottles and chased during clashes with a large crowd near the Angell Town estate in Brixton, south London.
Home Secretary Priti Patel described the scenes as “utterly vile” and said she would be speaking to Metropolitan Police Commissioner Cressida Dick.
Police said they were called to reports of a “large unlicensed music event” in Cecilia Road on Wednesday night, and officers tried to “encourage the crowd to leave”.
A Scotland Yard statement said: “The event continued and more officers attended the scene and the group became hostile towards officers.”
One witness, who did not want to be named, told the PA news agency: “After the police backed up, the group of people then forced the police out of the estate, throwing things at the police, smashed up a police car that they abandoned and then it moved more towards the main road.”
Four people were in custody yesterday after arrests were made for assault and public order offences, the Metropolitan Police said.
The force said a total of 15 officers were injured, two of whom required hospital treatment, while a small number of police vehicles were damaged.
But Ken Marsh, chairman of the Metropolitan Police Federation, which represents rank-and-file officers, described the incident as “absolutely shocking”.