Metropolitan Police make 18 arrests at pro-Palestinian march in London
Officers made 18 arrests during protests in central London on Saturday, the Metropolitan Police said.
The force arrested 18 people, including a man who was holding "a placard with swastikas on" and another for assaulting an emergency worker.
At the protest on Saturday, 1,500 officers were deployed to ensure the safety of protesters and the wider public.
At Marble Arch, a man was arrested on suspicion of inciting racial hatred after officers spotted him carrying a placard with Nazi symbols on it.
Images were shared on social media showing literature being distributed which featured a swastika inside a Star of David.
Officers later spotted the same literature at a stall in Whitehall and arrested four people on suspicion of distributing material likely to stir up racial hatred.
On two separate occasions, police were able to locate people seen earlier in the day wearing green headbands with white Arabic script.
While these headbands were not necessarily identical to those worn by the proscribed terrorist organisation, Hamas, they were similar.
There were sufficient grounds for officers to suspect they were wearing signs and symbols that could indicate support for a proscribed organisation.
Both men were arrested on suspicion of supporting a proscribed organisation after Voyager teams guided officers through the crowds to find and extract them.
A static protest organised by Hizb-ut-Tahrir also took place outside the Egyptian Embassy in South Street.
Two women were arrested for a racially aggravated public order offence after they were seen to be holding placards with messaging on likely to cause harassment, alarm or distress.
The Palestine Solidarity Campaign march concluded on time and the majority of participants left the area without incident.
In recent weeks, breakaway groups have travelled into the West End causing disorder and roaming around in a disorderly manner.
Shortly before 5pm, a similar breakaway group began to march up Whitehall, setting off flares that have previously been used against officers, police said.
Officers formed a cordon across Whitehall and the group were detained to be searched under Section 60 of the Public Order Act.
Conditions under Section 12 of the Public Order Act were also imposed preventing the march setting off again.
The group mainly dispersed without further incident, however six people were arrested for refusing directions to disperse and thereby breaching the dispersal order in place under Section 35 of the Public Order Act.
One man was arrested near Trafalgar Square for possession of an offensive weapon, specifically a knife.
Another man was arrested on suspicion of assaulting an emergency worker after an officer was struck in the chest. The officer wasn’t injured during the incident.
Officers also dealt with an incident in a pub on Whitehall next to the cordon and a man was arrested on suspicion of common assault.
It is not known yet if he was connected to the protest.
Deputy Assistant Commissioner Ade Adelekan, who led the policing operation, said: “I would like to acknowledge the overwhelming majority who came into London today and exercised their right to protest lawfully.
“Regrettably, there was still a small minority who believed the law did not apply to them. Thanks to the efforts of our CCTV teams and other officers, a number of those are already in custody.
“Investigations into other offences are already under way and will continue in the coming days.
“I would also like to thank the Met officers, as well as all those from other forces who travelled long distances to help us keep London safe, for their efforts.
“We said we would intervene decisively where offences took place and that is what they did.”
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