London’s Metropolitan Police said that physical violence by far-right thugs and football hooligans on the city’s streets Saturday was more dangerous than the far-larger pro-Palestinian demonstration that was largely peaceful.
An estimated 300,000 people took to London’s streets on Saturday — as protesters did across other major European cities such as Paris and Brussels — to call for a cease-fire in Israel’s bombing campaign on Gaza.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak blamed the violence on far-right “thugs” and “Hamas sympathizers” who had gtried to infiltrate the march.
“This group were largely football hooligans from across the U.K. and spent most of the day attacking or threatening officers who were seeking to prevent them being able to confront the main march,” Twist said in a statement late Saturday.
Twist said some breakaway groups from the pro-Palestinian rally behaved in an “intimidating manner” with arrests made after officers were struck in the face with fireworks, but there was no comparable level of violence to the football hooligans.
“There were also a number of serious offenses identified in relation to hate crime and possible support for proscribed organizations during the protest that we are actively investigating,” said Twist.
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