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| Arrests at pro-Palestine Action protest rise to 890 | Arrests at pro-Palestine Action protest rise to 890 |
| (32 minutes later) | |
| There were 890 people arrested at a demonstration against the ban on the group Palestine Action in London on Saturday, police say. | |
| The majority of the arrests were for supporting a proscribed group under the Terrorism Act, while the Metropolitan Police said there were also a "significant" number of arrests made "after the protest turned violent". | The majority of the arrests were for supporting a proscribed group under the Terrorism Act, while the Metropolitan Police said there were also a "significant" number of arrests made "after the protest turned violent". |
| The number of arrests at the London demonstration has risen from the 425 announced on Saturday. | The number of arrests at the London demonstration has risen from the 425 announced on Saturday. |
| The government proscribed Palestine Action under anti-terrorism legislation in July, making membership of or support of the group a criminal offence, punishable by up to 14 years in prison. | |
| The group was banned after activists broke into an RAF base and damaged two military aircraft earlier this year. | |
| The Met said 857 arrests were for showing support for Palestine Action, while 33 were arrested for other offences, including 17 for assaults on police officers. | |
| The protest saw hundreds of people gather in central London before writing messages in support of the proscribed group on placards at 13:00 BST. Officers began arresting people taking part shortly after. | |
| The Met said most were taken to custody as they refused to provide their details or were found to have been on bail. | |
| Deputy assistant commissioner Claire Smart said: "The violence we encountered during the operation was coordinated and carried out by a group of people, many wearing masks to conceal their identity, intent on creating as much disorder as possible." | |
| Defend Our Juries, which organised the rally, said officers had "violently assault[ed] peaceful protesters including the elderly, in order to try and arrest over a thousand people for holding cardboard signs". | |
| They said the demonstration showed the Palestine Action ban was "impossible to enforce and a preposterous waste of resources". | |
| Earlier this week, the Home Office was given permission to challenge a ruling which allowed Palestine Action to appeal against its ban under terrorism legislation. | |
| The group's co-founder, Huda Ammori, was granted permission to appeal in July after her lawyers argued the ban breached the right to free speech. | |
| Former Home Secretary Yvette Cooper has previously defended the proscription by saying some supporters of Palestine Action "don't know the full nature" of the group. |