A massive clean-up operation is underway in London after yesterday's Mayday protest descended into scenes of violence and destruction. Scotland Yard said that 95 people were arrested during a day that saw shops looted, war memorials desecrated and bricks and bottles hurled at police by a rampaging mob. The Prime Minister condemned the "mindless thuggery" of the activists, who gathered for an anti-global capitalism demonstration armed with missiles, iron bars and scaffolding.
Nine police officers were injured when the Guerrilla Gardening demonstration in Parliament Square, involving 4,000 people, turned violent. The demonstration was organised by the militant protest group, Reclaim the Streets. Mr Blair described the rioters as "idiots and beneath contempt", after they smashed their way into a McDonald's restaurant in Whitehall, defaced the Cenotaph and a statue of Winston Churchill. Mr Blair said that to deface the Cenotaph and the statue of Winston Churchill is simply beneath contempt. He said that it is only because of the bravery and courage of our war dead that "these idiots" can live in a free country at all. He said that there is a long tradition that people in Britain are entitled to demonstrate lawfully, but that right should not be abused in this way. He said that the Government would reconsider its approach to policing such demonstrations in future. He said that there is a right to demonstrate, but responsibly and within the law.
One police officer, who suffered facial injuries after being hit in the face with a brick, was released from hospital after treatment last night along with a colleague who suffered a dislocated shoulder. There were 95 arrests, mostly men, for a series of offences, including violent disorder, criminal damage, affray, drunkenness and individual possession of CS gas, a knife and long-bladed scissors. Metropolitan Police Deputy Assistant Commissioner, Mike Todd, said that rioters were a minority, but that they were thugs, not demonstrators. Nine civilians, whose injuries were not believed to be serious, were treated at University College Hospital and eight with minor injuries were treated at the protest scene, according to a London Ambulance spokesman.
The day started peacefully as 2,000 activists staged a largely good-natured protest in Parliament Square. Armed with makeshift chisels and hand trowels, they levered up heavy paving slabs and planted flowers and grass turf in their place to symbolise reclaiming urban spaces. However, the carnival spirit was soon overshadowed by anger and violence. At about 2.10pm, a group of 20 protesters stormed into the Whitehall branch of
McDonald's and destroyed the restaurant. Within minutes they had smashed every window and torn down the M sign outside the restaurant. One man was seen hanging from the neon display while another was seen handing out drinks and burgers. Graffiti was sprayed over the property as riot police armed with shields and truncheons sealed off the area and a helicopter buzzed overhead.
Protesters, some taunting police, staged a sit down protest on Whitehall close to the restaurant. Shortly after the McDonald's was destroyed, the Cenotaph was daubed with anti-war slogans. The large statue of Winston Churchill in Parliament Square was also defaced, with a strip of turf placed over its head to look like a green Mohican hairstyle. Red paint was daubed on his mouth to look like blood and a red hammer and sickle was sprayed on to the jacket. Bottles and beer cans were thrown at riot police who stood on guard at the gates of nearby Downing Street, while other officers sealed off an area of the street where the McDonald's attack took place.
Police riot squads, who themselves came under attack, penned 1,000 protesters into Trafalgar Square, while hundreds more were stopped from getting into the area as officers blocked off routes with specially protected vans. Officers will check footage from security cameras within the McDonald's restaurant to match people to the crimes. Those who had been contained within Parliament Square will also be checked to see if any of them could be identified as taking part in the earlier violence. Three of those arrested have been identified as being connected to the November 30 anti-capitalist protest at Euston station.
Last night, Ken Livingstone, the mayoral favourite for London, who has said that he supports direct action, branded the demonstrators as "mindless thugs". In Manchester, 20 people were arrested yesterday when about 250 people targeted shops, fast food restaurants and the city's Metrolink tram system as part of an anti-capitalist protest. Trams in the city centre were halted by a sit-down protest, while other demonstrators attempted to enter the Arndale shopping centre and a McDonald's restaurant.
