Largest single-day arrests in decades
The Metropolitan Police arrested almost 900 people after a demonstration in central London in support of the banned group Palestine Action.
The whopping tally marked one of the force’s largest single-day arrest operations in decades.
The rally in Parliament Square on Saturday saw protesters carrying placards reading “I oppose genocide. I support Palestine Action.”
By Sunday, the Met confirmed 857 arrests under anti-terrorism legislation, with a further 33 detained for other offences.
The figures eclipsed the 532 arrests made at a similar rally last month, of which 522 were also linked to terrorism laws.
Clashes and allegations of violence
Police said officers faced “an exceptional level of abuse” during the event, citing punches, kicks, spitting and objects being thrown. Seventeen people were arrested on suspicion of assaulting officers, compared with six at the previous protest.
Campaign group Defend Our Juries, which organised the rally, disputed the police account, describing it as “laughable” and insisting demonstrators were peaceful. The group accused the Met of using aggressive tactics, with images showing officers deploying batons and forcibly detaining participants.
In advance of the protest, organisers had advised supporters to “go floppy” during arrests and refuse to provide identification needed for street bail, leading to more than half of those arrested being taken to custody suites.
Legal and political backdrop
The crackdown comes amid a wider legal battle over Palestine Action’s proscription. The group, which gained notoriety after breaking into RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire and damaging military aircraft, was banned in July. Parliament placed it on the same list as Al-Qaeda, ISIS and neo-Nazi organisations, making it a criminal offence to belong to or support it.
The High Court has allowed the group to appeal against its proscription, but the Home Office has since challenged that ruling. Convictions under the Terrorism Act for supporting such organisations can carry sentences of up to 14 years.
Elsewhere on Saturday, 70 people staged a related protest outside Holyrood Palace in Edinburgh. Police Scotland confirmed three arrests there, including two pensioners aged 67 and 82, on suspicion of terrorism offences.
The Home Office has not yet commented on the weekend’s events.
