UK Home Secretary Suella Braverman has called for those who took part in a suspected TikTok-inspired raid of shops on London’s Oxford Street to be "hunted down" and jailed.
Footage showed police wielding batons in a clash with dozens of young men and wrestling some of them away, while officers on horseback helped to disperse hundreds of people on Europe’s busiest shopping street on yesterday.
Stores were forced to close their shutters and lock customers inside during the looting raid, which was reportedly inspired by a social media craze encouraging people to take part in an "Oxford Street JD robbery".
Police arrested nine people and issued 34 dispersal orders.
TikTok prankster Mizzy claimed on Twitter, now known as X, that he had been stopped and searched on Oxford Street for "no reason" and issued with a dispersal order, insisting in a video he had "nothing to do" with the raid.
Sharing a video of police clashing with young people, Ms Braverman said: "We cannot allow the kind of lawlessness seen in some American cities to come to the streets of the UK.
"The police have my full backing to do whatever necessary to ensure public order.
"Those responsible must be hunted down & locked up. I expect nothing less from the @metpoliceuk and have requested a full incident report."
A police spokesman said that of the nine people arrested, four were detained on suspicion of breaching dispersal orders, one on suspicion of going equipped to steal, one on suspicion of assaulting a police officer, and one on suspicion of a public order offence.
Earlier in the day, "officers arrested two people in Essex for conspiracy to commit robbery following online social media posts," the spokesman added.
Police had warned that there would be a heavy police presence in the Oxford Street area following "online speculation" about opportunities to commit crime, while Mayor of London Sadiq Khan urged people not to take part and hit out at the "nonsense" circulating on TikTok.
The Daily Mail reported that there were online posters plugging the event and urging participants to follow a "dress code" of balaclavas and gloves.
