Nine people have been charged with public order offences after pro-Palestinian protesters allegedly breached protest conditions as they marched from a rally in Whitehall to Trafalgar Square, breaking through a police line in the process.
Saturday’s Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC) protest was adjusted to be a static rally after police curtailed organisers’ plans for a march past the BBC and near a synagogue, and conditions were put in place that prevented people involved from entering specific areas.
Thousands of demonstrators, including former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn and the party’s former shadow chancellor John McDonnell, marched towards Trafalgar Square from Whitehall after speeches were made at the rally.
The Metropolitan Police announced on Saturday that 77 people had been arrested – the highest number across more than 20 national PSC protests since October 2023.
Some 65 people had been detained for a breach of conditions, five for public order offences, two for obstructing police, one for supporting a proscribed organisation, one for inciting racial hatred, one for common assault, one for assault on an emergency worker and one for sexual assault.
The force said on Sunday that 24 people have been bailed and 48 remain in custody.
Piers Corbyn, 77, of Elephant and Castle, south-east London; Angela Zelter, 73, of Knighton, Powys; Tessa Roe-Stanton, 20, Starr Thomas, 20, Christian Adair, 23, all from Brockley, south-east London; Monday Rosenfeld, 21, of Limehouse, east London; Matthew Brennan, 44, of St George, Bristol; David Ok, 40, of Kilburn, north-west London; and Christopher Nineham, 62, of Bow, east London, were charged with public order offences.
They will appear at Westminster Magistrates’ Court in the coming days.
Three men, aged 75, 73 and 61, will voluntarily attend a police station in central London on Sunday afternoon to be interviewed under criminal caution, the Met said.
Commander Adam Slonecki 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.”
He said three officers were spat at and one was assaulted during the protest.
A protest was held on Sunday in support of one of the nine charged – Nineham, who is vice chair of the Stop the War Coalition (SWC).
SWC national officer John Rees told around 35 supporters gathered outside Walworth police station in south-east London: “This is a first rank all-out assault on the right to free assembly, of the right to free speech.
“It is unprecedented in modern times in British history. It is unprecedented for the police to arrest a senior officer of a major protest organisation in this country, and to combine that with a sweep of hundreds of actors who have been taken into custody, and some of them already charged with similar offences.
“It is, in short, a state attempt to close down protests on the question of Palestine.”
Ahead of the demonstration, the PSC had described the Met’s conditions as “repressive” and called for the force to lift them.
The Muslim Association of Britain (MAB) criticised the Met’s decision to block the march, calling it “an outrageous assault on democracy, freedom of assembly, and freedom of expression”.
We demand the release of those arrested and remain resolute in our struggle for justice for Palestine. pic.twitter.com/7u9FVXou9h
— Muslim Association of Britain (MAB) (@MABOnline1) January 19, 2025
“Silencing peaceful protesters who stand against genocide and in solidarity with the oppressed is not only undemocratic but shameful,” MAB said in a statement.
A spokesperson for the Campaign Against Antisemitism described Saturday’s scenes as “a dark day for London”, adding: “For over a year we have called for these marches to be banned; we reiterated that call yesterday when it was clear that the police would not be able to control the situation.
“Police authorised a static protest for activists who repeatedly declared, ‘#WeWillMarch’. The result was chaos in London.”
Before Saturday, the Met denied putting a “ring of steel” around Broadcasting House in Portland Place, but blocked protesters from gathering there because of its close proximity to a synagogue and the risk the demonstration could cause “serious disruption” to the Jewish holy day, as people attended Shabbat services.
The protest was adjusted to be a static rally in Whitehall instead.
