Statue mobs clash with police in London

Police clashed with right-wing thugs in London yesterday after a mob, including fascist activists and football casuals, gathered claiming they were there to protect statues from anti-racism protesters.

Hundreds of people converged on Parliament Square where the statue of Winston Churchill had been placed in a secure box to protect it.

Many who attended were drinking and there were clashes with police in riot gear as demonstrators approached the Cenotaph and tried to breach security barriers.

Others threw bottles, flag poles, a smoke flare and traffic cones towards officers. A barricade was formed to stop the group getting to Hyde Park where a Black Lives Matter protest was taking place.

A number of statues of public figures, who have been linked to the slave trade, have been targeted by protesters in the weeks of protest that have swept the world after the death of George Floyd.

© Jane Barlow/PA Wire

Home Secretary Priti Patel wrote on Twitter: “Thoroughly unacceptable thuggery. Any perpetrators of violence or vandalism should expect to face the full force of the law.”

Statues including Winston Churchill, Nelson Mandela and Mahatma Gandhi were boarded up to prevent them being targeted by protesters both from the Black Lives Matter movement and far-right groups.

There were gatherings in other cities, with several hundred people meeting in Glasgow’s George Square to prevent vandalism to the Cenotaph.

The group was penned in on the east side of the square amid a heavy police presence, with a similar sized area reserved for counter-protesters which remained empty.

Marchers across Shetland also took part in a series of walks near their homes while observing social distancing.