London’s jails are at capacity and officers are worked to the bone as police tried to maintain law and order at a range of different protests across the city, making hundreds of arrests.
Outside Westminster Palace, coppers grappled with pro-Brexit protesters, still incensed that Theresa May’s government has made no discernible progress on exiting the European Union. Clashes were reported, as police wrestled one yellow vest-clad protester to the ground.
https://twitter.com/tregorann/status/1119675613684563969
Demonstrations have taken place in major cities worldwide for the last week, with three London protesters remanded in custody for holding up a Docklands Light Rail train on Thursday, and further rail disruptions carried out in Australia and Germany.
Extinction Rebellion protest on roof of DLR train – planning to glue themselves to the carriage. pic.twitter.com/dkGpmF6myp
— ITV London (@itvlondon) April 17, 2019
“Every day we have had over 1,000 officers – and now over 1,500 officers – working to police these protests,” she said. The Met called in an additional 200 officers to clear the streets, and Home Secretary Sajid Javid urged police to use “the full force of the law.”
On Saturday, that meant shooing the “eco anarchists” to a sanctioned protest area at Marble Arch, and arresting those who didn’t comply. At one stage, officers used an angle grinder to cut through a metal pipe connecting two protesters to each other.
In Hyde Park, an altogether different form of demonstration was occurring. Thousands of pot smokers and activists turned up to skin up and chill out for 4/20, an annual event that’s part ‘legalize it’ protest and part old-fashioned smoke-up.
The April 20 event, named after the American calendar date 4/20, was a fairly sedate affair, with a mist of pot smoke hanging over the park. However, police were called to the scene of a stabbing in the park, which took place minutes after the ceremonial blaze-up at 4.20 pm.