London was host to a weekend of chaos – with two major protests, the FA Cup final and non-league final day all taking place across a 48 hour-span.
And while the latter happened by itself on Sunday, the tense nature of Saturday’s events saw the Met Police confirm that 43 arrests were made across both the “Nakba protest” and the United the Kindom rally.
In a lengthy statement, which is below in full, it was confirmed that 20 arrests were made at the United the Kingdom rally, while 12 were made at the other.
It appears that the FA Cup final went off without a hitch, although 11 arrests were made that were “not affiliated” with either group or event.
Hours before the United the Kingdom rally, Prime Minister Keir Starmer posted a video on social media site X to say that he had blocked visas of so-called “far-right agitators who want to come here to spew their extremist views,” but made no comment about the “nakba” protests despite expressions of concern from Britain’s already-besieged Jewish community.
The Met Police statement in full is:
“There were 43 arrests as part of the central London public order policing operation. 20 of those arrested were affiliated with the Unite the Kingdom protest, while 12 were affiliated with the Nakba protest. 11 were either not affiliated with either group, or it hasn’t been possible to confirm their affiliation.
“There were arrests for 11 hate crime related offences. Of those arrested, two were affiliated to Nakba and nine to Unite the Kingdom. They included offences motivated by race, religion, sexuality and disability.
“A further seven hate crime offences remain under investigation with outstanding suspects. All are from the Nakba protest.
“Three arrests were as a result of the use of live facial recognition. All three were people wanted for failing to appear at court. None were affiliated to the protests taking place the same day.”
The breakdown of arrests is as follows:
Unite the Kingdom:
Wanted for previous GBH Wanted for previous telecommunications offence 10 x public order offences ABH 3 x drunk and disorderly 2 x assault on an emergency worker Criminal damage Possession of an offensive weapon
Nakba:
3 x breach of Section 14 Public Order Act conditions Wanted for previous common assault Support for a proscribed organisation 3 x public order offences 3 x failing to remove a face covering Assault on an emergency worker
No affiliation or not confirmed:
2 x theft Drunk and disorderly Common assault (later de-arrested) ABH (later de-arrested) Immigration offence Possession of drugs Failure to provide details when required to do so 3 x failure to appear at court (live facial recognition arrests)
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