Met commander says attendees are ‘essentially meeting to purposefully commit a crime’
Police began making arrests Sunday as more than 100 people gathered outside the US embassy in Battersea, south London, to protest the proscription of Palestine Action, in what the Guardian described as the first mass demonstration opposing the ban under Andy Burnham’s premiership. Demonstrators held signs reading: “I oppose genocide, I support Palestine Action.”
Ahead of the London gathering, the Metropolitan police warned those taking part “that they face arrest as part of a robust policing operation.”
Commander Adam Slonecki, who is leading the policing operation, said: “All those intending on coming to this event know that supporting a proscribed organisation is unlawful – they are essentially meeting to purposefully commit a crime.”
He added that “anyone officers consider to be playing a key role in organising the event, giving instructions to others and/or providing logistical support will very likely be committing an offence and face enforcement action.”
Defend Our Juries, the group behind the demonstrations, said the Met were “terrified of facilitating US embarrassment.”
Another demonstration was scheduled for the US consulate near Holyrood in Edinburgh.
Arrests were underway when the Guardian’s report was published. A photograph from the scene, taken by Carlos Jasso of AFP/Getty Images, showed officers carrying one woman away from the protest.
The London protest and the planned Edinburgh gathering both target United States diplomatic premises — the embassy in Battersea and the consulate near Holyrood.