London protests: Group abuse people having picnic in Hyde Park during far-right demonstrations
Prime minister calls violence on Saturday 'racist thuggery'
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Your support makes all the difference.A large group of protesters abused people sitting having a picnic in Hyde Park on Saturday afternoon, as far-right demonstrations took place in central London.
Video shared online shows the gang approach some people gathered in the park for a picnic, before swearing at them and forcing them to move.
The incident came on the same afternoon that far-right groups clashed violently with police in central London, leading to the arrests of more than 100 people.
Tom Norman, an actor who took a video of the incident, wrote on Twitter that the group dispersed when the Met Police arrived on the scene
“They were attacking anyone in their path. It could not have been LESS about statues or values or being British. It was shameful,” he added in a separate post.
Groups of mainly white men had gathered in London on Saturday claiming they wanted to protect statues from vandalism.
However, some of the self-proclaimed “statue defenders” then started to attack riot police near the Houses of Parliament and Trafalgar Square.
They launched objects including glass bottles, smoke grenades and flares at officers.
As a result of the skirmishes, the London Ambulance Service said it treated 15 people for their injuries, including two members of the police.
By 9pm, more than 100 people had been arrested for offences such as assault on officers, violent disorder and possession of an offensive weapon.
Boris Johnson called the violence “racist thuggery” and said that anyone attacking the police would be met with “the full force of the law”.
Similar gatherings took place in other parts of the UK on Saturday, with crowds forming around monuments in cities such as Bristol and Glasgow.
The violent scuffles in London contrasted with largely peaceful demonstrations in Hyde Park and Marble Arch in support of the anti-racist Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement. The official BLM march was cancelled over concerns for the safety of protesters.
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