At least 126 people were arrested in London on Saturday following a large pro-Palestinian rally and counter-protests, according to London’s Metropolitan Police.
Police intercepted a group of 150 people who were launching fireworks towards the end of the Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PCS) march that attracted over 300,000 people, Assistant Commissioner Matt Twist said in a statement issued Saturday afternoon.
Arrests were made after some of the fireworks struck officers in the face, the statement read.
A CNN team on the ground also heard shouts and observed a heavy police presence as a group of far-right protestors tried to storm a war memorial, the Cenotaph, on Armistice Day.
Large groups of pro-Palestinian supporters had also marched pass the US embassy in London. Similar demonstrations were held in Brussels, where thousands took to the streets.
The English Defense League (EDL) is a far-right group founded by Tommy Robinson who, according to Robinson’s account on X, was at the Cenotaph to pay his respects on Saturday.
"The extreme violence from the right wing protestors towards the police today was extraordinary and deeply concerning, " Twist wrote.
Nine officers were injured while confronting the violent crowd getting to the Cenotaph while a remembrance service was taking place, Twist explained. Two officers will require hospital treatment after sustaining a fractured elbow and a suspected dislocated hip.
Several officers are still deployed across central London in case of anymore "outbreaks of disorder," Twist concluded.
UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak condemned the violent scenes seen in London on Saturday in a statement posted to social media, saying "all criminality must be met with the full and swift force of the law."