More than a hundred people were arrested on Saturday during protests in London. The British Metropolitan Police said in a statement.
By 9:00 PM, more than 100 arrests had been made during Saturday’s protests for violations of peace, violent disorder, attacks on the police, possession of illegal weapons, drug possession and public intoxication and disorder, among other things, the police said.
Protesters wishing to show their solidarity to the Black Lives Matter movement and protesters protested across the city on Saturday all day. In most cases, the protests were peaceful.
Still, protests got out of control in several places. Police officers were attacked after thousands of protesters gathered. In their own words, the protesters wanted to protect statues, after the statue of former UK Prime Minister Winston Churchill was defaced last week by protesters saying “was a racist”.
An investigation is also being conducted into a man who was captured on Saturday while urinating next to a monument to a deceased police officer. Keith Palmer died in the attack near Westminster Palace on March 22, 2017.
“We are aware of the disgusting and horrible photo that goes around on social media of a man who appears to be urinating on a monument to Palmer. We immediately launched an investigation and will collect all available evidence and take appropriate action,” said Bas Javid, commander of the British Metropolitan Police.
In several places, protesters faced the police. Agents were pelted, kicked and beaten. Six police officers were slightly injured.
Due to the various protests scheduled for Saturday, restrictions were imposed on several groups prior to the protests. For example, protesters had to follow a specially marked route. The ban on protesting after 5 p.m. was ignored by many.