Blind man among 532 arrested under Terrorism Act at London protest for proscribed Palestine Action group
The Metropolitan Police confirmed on Sunday that a total of 532 people were arrested at the Parliament Square protest, including more than a dozen people aged in their 80s.
The 'overwhelming majority' of arrests — 522 — were for displaying placards in support of a proscribed organisation, in violation of the UK's Terrorism Act.
Another 10 people were arrested for assaulting police, obstruction and public order breaches.
Palestine Action was proscribed under the Terrorism Act on July 5 — adding it to the list of banned organisations alongside al-Qaeda, ISIS and Hezbollah — after members broke into RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire on June 20 and vandalised two Voyager aircraft.
Under the Act, supporters or members of the group face up to 14 years in prison.
'The protesters in Parliament Square were not inciting violence and it is entirely disproportionate to the point of absurdity to be treating them as terrorists,' Amnesty International UK's chief executive Sacha Deshmukh said in a statement.
'Instead of criminalising peaceful demonstrators, the government should be focusing on taking immediate and unequivocal action to put a stop to Israel's genocide and ending any risk of UK complicity in it.'
Home Secretary Yvette Cooper told Sky News, 'The right to protest is one we protect fiercely but this is very different from displaying support for this one specific and narrow, proscribed organisation.
'Palestine Action was proscribed based on strong security advice following serious attacks the group has committed, involving violence, significant injuries and extensive criminal damage.'
Organisers Defend Our Juries said up to 700 people attended the 'Lift the Ban' event, where protesters held up handmade signs reading 'I oppose genocide, I support Palestine Action'.
Bianca Jagger, former wife of Mick Jagger, told The Sun, 'I'm here today because I am concerned the UK government is in violation of our fundamental freedom of speech.
'But I also hear today, of course, to denounce genocide that has been perpetrated by Israel and Gaza.'
She slammed the proscribing of Palestine Action as 'outrageous'.
It was the largest mass arrest at a single protest in decades, surpassing the 339 people arrested at the poll tax riots of 1990.
'Over the coming days and weeks, officers from the Met's Counter Terrorism Command will work to put together the case files required to secure charges against those arrested as part of this operation,' the Metropolitan Police said in a statement.
'Securing a charge for an offence under the Terrorism Act is a distinct process, which in some instances not only involves the approval of the Crown Prosecution Service, but also the Attorney-General.'
Police said the average age of those arrested was 54, ranging from six arrests of 17- to 19-year-olds and 15 aged 80-90.
'263 of those arrested were male, 261 were female and eight either defined themselves as non-binary or did not disclose their gender,' police said.
Those arrested were taken to prisoner processing points in the Westminster area.
'Those whose details could be confirmed were released on bail to appear at a police station at a future date,' police said.
'They were given conditions not to attend future demonstrations related to Palestine Action. Those who refused to provide their details at the prisoner processing points and those who were found to have been arrested while already on bail, were transported to one of a number of Met Police custody suites to be dealt with.'
Around 800 inmates were moved out of the busiest jails in London ahead of the protests to make room for the influx, Sky News reported.
Saturday's mass protest came only days after the first three people to be charged with supporting the group were publicly named as Jeremy Shippam, 71, Judit Murray, also 71, and Fiona Maclean, 53.
They will appear at Westminster Magistrates' Court on September 16.
Previous such protests have seen more than 100 arrests made in total.
— with The Sun
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