Marchers ‘risking lives’ as violence blights message
ANTI-RACISM activists who attacked and injured police have been roundly condemned for resorting to violence and ignoring coronvirus restrictions.
With more Black Lives Matters protests taking place in London and elsewhere, politicians, the Police Federation union, head of the Met and members of the public all blasted the unrest.
TheWinston Churchill statue was vandalised with neon green graffiti during the protest in London’s Parliament Square.
Amid the melee in London a female mounted officer was left with a collapsed lung, broken collarbone and shattered ribs after she fell after riding into a traffic light.
She need surgery and remains in a stable condition.
There was also growing alarm that protesters were ignoring social distancing guidelines during the pandemic and fears their actions could lead to another spike in infections.
The violence left 14 Met Police officers injured after 13 more were hurt in earlier protests. Their chief said the assaults at the Black Lives Matter rally were “shocking and completely unacceptable”.
Dame Cressida Dick spoke out after seeing the heated clashes with a minority of demonstrators in central London on Saturday night.
The violence, which saw flares hurled and a Boris bike – the capital’s rental bicycles – thrown at a police horse, followed an otherwise peaceful demo.
The force said 29 people had been arrested after tensions escalated when tens of thousands packed Parliament Square.
The Met Police had been out in significant numbers for the marches through London, including outside the US Embassy, in protest against police brutality following the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis.
Offences included violent disorder, public order offences and assault on emergency service workers. Dame Cressida said: “I am deeply saddened and depressed that a minority of protesters became violent towards officers in central London.
“This led to 14 officers being injured, in addition to 13 hurt in earlier protests this week.
“We have made a number of arrests and justice will follow. The number of assaults is shocking and completely unacceptable. I know many who were seeking to make their voices heard will be as appalled as I am by those scenes.
“There is no place for violence in our city.
“Officers displayed extreme patience and professionalism throughout a long and difficult day, and I thank them for that.”
Dame Cressida urged campaigners to find another way of making their voices heard, rather than descending on the capital’s streets amid the Covid-19 crisis.
Home Secretary Priti Patel echoed her sentiments, warning that the social distancing advice had been “for the safety of all of us”.
Among the thousands who gathered in the capital – the majority donning face coverings and many with gloves – some held signs specifically referring to coronavirus. One read: “There is a virus greater than Covid-19 and it’s called racism.”
But Health Secretary Matt Hancock warned that it was now “undoubtedly a risk” that there will be an increase in coronavirus cases following the protests.
While he supported the demonstrators’ arguments, he urged: “Please don’t gather in groups of more than six people because there is also a pandemic
that we must address and control. And so we’ve got to make the argument, we’ve got to make further progress, on top of the significant progress that has been made in recent years.
“But we’ve got to do it in a way that’s safe and controls the virus.”
Saturday mayhem in central London flared just after 6pm near to Downing Street when missiles and fireworks were thrown at a police line. Mounted officers were then drafted in to regain control.
But one horse galloped ahead and its rider fell to the ground after hitting her head on a traffic light before her horse ran through the crowd, sending people scattering.
Remarkably, the animal made its own way home.
In total, 14 people were arrested and 14 officers were injured after a group became “angry and intent on violence”, the force added. Metropolitan Police Federation boss Ken Marsh said the rider had “quite nasty” injuries.
He added: ““I think my colleagues were absolute heroes.”
Last night there were minor skirmishes between protesters and police in the capital, quickly quelled by riot officers.