Five People Detained During Rally Involving Far-Right Activists In London - Police

LONDON (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 14th June, 2020) Five people have been detained and six policemen sustained minor injuries on Saturday during rallies of right-wing activists opposing Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement and football fans in central London, the Metropolitan Police said.

On Saturday, BLM activists planned to hold the fourth in a row rally in London, but after associations of football fans announced that they would come to the capital over the weekend to protect monuments from anti-racism protesters, the action has been canceled. However, football fans and far-right radicals arrived in the center of the UK capital to hold demonstrations. BLM supporters still had a smaller demonstration in the city center.

Fans and far-right activists engaged in clashes with police officers and journalists, but in overall protests concluded without major incidents, according to a Sputnik correspondent.

Rallies of far-right groups on Parliament Square and BLM activists on Trafalgar Square concluded before 5:00 p. m. local time (15:00 GMT), in accordance with the condition laid down by the police. Hundreds of policemen monitored the order during the protests.

After the start of the rallies, no one was allowed to enter these squares except journalists.

A sector of Whitehall Street linking Trafalgar and Parliament squares, where the prime minister's residence is located, was totally fenced off even for reporters.

Several skirmishes took place in other areas of the capital, in particular, there were reports of fights near Waterloo station.

The BLM protests were generally peaceful. Demonstrators first gathered at the National Gallery, then moved to Nelson's Column. Many participants of the rally were in favor of demolishing the column, considering Admiral Horatio Nelson a racist. However, no damage was caused to the monument.

Only a few protesters were wearing protective masks, despite the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

A wave of protests against racial inequality has swept through the United Kingdom in the wake of the death of George Floyd, an African American man, in police custody in the US city of Minneapolis on May 25. Over the past week, demonstrators clashed with police and turned their attention to statues commemorating public figures linked with racism or the slave trade.