Ten people charged following pro-Palestine demonstration in London
The protests were being held at Whitehall on the eve of a ceasefire in Gaza
Ten people have been charged by the Met Police following a pro-Palestine demonstration on Saturday (January 18th).
Thousands of protestors gathered outside Whitehall on Saturday afternoon to protest against the government on the eve of a ceasefire between Hamas and Israel in Gaza, which entered into force on Sunday (January 19th).
Metropolitan Police officers said that during the course of the demonstration, a breach of conditions from the Public Order Act resulted in 77 different protestors being arrested.
According to the force, several conditions on the protest were put in place, so as not to disturb Jewish Londoners, due to several synagogues in the area surrounding Whitehall.
During the demonstration, protestors had attempted to march away from Whitehall in the direction of a synagogue located nearby.
Of these, ten people have been charged with public order offences following the protests, with those accused ranging from 20 years old to 77. The protestors were also from various parts of the country, including London, Bristol and Powes.
All ten people will appear before Westminster Magistrates' Court in the coming days, the force said,
Speaking on the case, Commander Adam Slonecki from the Metropolitan Police said: "Yesterday we saw a deliberate effort, including by protest organisers, to breach conditions and attempt to march out of Whitehall.
“This was a serious escalation in criminality and one which we are taking incredibly seriously. Officers have worked around the clock to pursue those involved.
“We will continue to work through CCTV footage, videos from social media and our body worn cameras so we can make further arrests and bring forward charges where we identify criminality.
“I’d like to thank officers for their professional response, including those from other forces across the country who assisted. Thankfully no officers were injured during the protest, however three were spat at and one was physically assaulted. They are receiving appropriate support.”