VIOLENT clashes broke out in London yesterday after large crowds including far-right supporters gathered, claiming they were protecting statues from anti-racism protesters.
Police officers were pelted with bottles and fireworks as hundreds converged on Parliament Square following a call from far-right groups, including Britain First, to guard monuments.
There were a number of clashes with police in riot gear as crowds chanting “England” surged towards lines of officers. Smoke bombs, flag poles and fireworks were among the objects thrown during the confrontations.
READ MORE: Far-right 'statue protector' urinates on police memorial
The scenes were condemned by the Mayor of London Sadiq Khan, who said it was “totally unacceptable”.
He tweeted: “We will not tolerate attacks on our police and perpetrators will feel the full force of the law. It is clear that far-right groups are causing violence and disorder in central London.”
Home Secretary Priti Patel also said it was “thoroughly unacceptable thuggery”.
Black Lives Matter (BLM) organisers had urged supporters to stay away from central London yesterday and moved a planned demonstration to Friday following the call to demonstrate by far-right groups.
However police had to stop large groups of far-right protesters getting to Hyde Park as a smaller anti-racism demonstration took place.
In recent weeks, protests have sprung up around the world stemming from the death of George Floyd in the US city of Minneapolis after a police officer knelt on his neck for nearly nine minutes.
READ MORE: WATCH: Far-right protesters clash with police at anti-BLM demonstration in London
A week ago a group in Bristol pulled down a statue of Edward Colston and dropped it into the city’s harbour due to his involvement in the slave trade.
On Friday, statues in Parliament Square including of Winston Churchill, Nelson Mandela and Mahatma Gandhi had been boarded up to prevent them being targeted by protesters, both from the BLM movement and far-right groups. Crowds massed around monuments in other cities yesterday including in Glasgow, where hundreds gathered in George Square to “protect” a war memorial in an event organised by a group called the Loyalist Defence League (LDL).
The group was penned in on the east side of the square, with a similar sized area reserved for counter-protesters which remained empty.
A video posted on the Twitter page of the LDL said: “Across the UK we have had far left thugs violently defacing our war memorials/cenotaphs. In some cases they’ve daubed graffiti upon the statues and even pulled them down.”
READ MORE: Backlash as Murdo Fraser equates far-right violence and Black Lives Matter
There was a heavy police presence in Glasgow city centre, with a number of police vans stationed around George Square. Several hundred people also gathered at the cenotaph in Bristol city centre, with protesters holding up “All Lives Matter” banners.
However, elsewhere BLM demonstrations continued to take place, including in Brighton where more than 1000 protesters formed a line along the seafront.
And the UK’s most northerly BLM event took place in Shetland yesterday, with organisers urging remote communities to make a greater effort to call out racism.
The “Shetland Staands Wi Black Lives Matter” event followed social distancing rules and urged people to take pictures with posters showing their support during walks across the islands.
It comes after a call for action to end the use of blackface in costumes at Shetland’s Viking festivals, which has been supported by a Scottish Parliament motion lodged by Highlands and Islands Greens MSP John Finnie.
Last week the organisers of the main Up Helly Aa event said it “will not be tolerated”.
Joy Duncan, who helped organise yesterday’s walking event, said it was hoped the online protest would help islanders’ voices be heard as far afield as possible.
She said: “Shetland rightly celebrates itself as a very warm and welcoming island, and it celebrates its international visitors coming to things like Up Helly Aa and Shetland Folk Festival.
“If that’s what we want to celebrate, we just need to change it up a bit, make sure we’re using appropriate language. We are
all now international, global
citizens.
“This inequality has been going on for centuries. We really have to change it and it starts with the individual. It’s a global problem, and Shetland is not innocent.”
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