Far-right protesters and soccer rowdies in the United Kingdom scuffled with police while trying to “guard” historical monuments that have been targeted recently by anti-racism activists for their links to slavery and British colonialism.
Monuments around the world have become flash points in demonstrations against racism and police violence after the May 25 death of George Floyd, a black man who died in Minneapolis after a white police officer pressed a knee to his neck.
In London, a Black Lives Matter group called off a demonstration scheduled for today, saying the presence of counter-protesters would make it unsafe.
Some protesters still gathered at Hyde Park to denounce racism while hundreds of far-right activists demonstrated, despite strict police restrictions and warnings to stay home to contain the coronavirus.
Many from the far-right camp gathered around a statue of wartime Prime Minister Winston Churchill and the Cenotaph war memorial, which were both boarded up to guard against vandalism.
Officials put protective panels around the monuments amid fears that far-right activists would seek confrontations with anti-racism protesters under the guise of protecting statues.
Some activists threw bottles and cans at officers, while others tried to push through police barriers. Riot police on horses pushed the crowd back.
The protesters, who appeared to be mostly white men, chanted “England” and sang the national anthem.
“I am extremely fed up with the way that the authorities have allowed two consecutive weekends of vandalism against our national monuments,” Paul Golding, leader of the far-right group Britain First, told the Press Association.
Scotland Yard said five people were arrested for violent disorder, assault on police and possession of weapons or drugs. Six police officers suffered minor injuries.
In Britain, the protests have triggered a national debate about the legacy of empire and its role in the slave trade.
A statue of slave trader Edward Colston was hauled from its plinth by protesters in the city of Bristol on Sunday and dumped in the harbour.
In London, Churchill’s statue was daubed with the words “was a racist.”
Prime Minister Boris Johnson tweeted yesterday that while Churchill “sometimes expressed opinions that were and are unacceptable to us today,” he was a hero and “we cannot now try to edit or censor our past.”
Churchill, whose first term spanned 1940-45, has long been revered for his leadership during World War II.
Protests denouncing racism also took place elsewhere in the U.K. In southern England's coastal city Brighton, police said some 10,000 people turned up for a peaceful Black Lives Matter demonstration.
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