More than 300 demonstrators were arrested after gathering outside the US embassy in London in support of the proscribed group Palestine Action. In a post on X on Sunday, the Metropolitan Police said 325 people had been arrested, with the majority (320) detained for expressing support for a proscribed organisation under the Terrorism Act.
Hundreds of people took part in the protest in Nine Elms, south-west London, on Saturday, with many holding signs reading: “I oppose genocide, I support Palestine Action.” Expressing support for the group is an offence under the Terrorism Act after it was proscribed in June 2025.
Arrests at the US embassy
Many demonstrators applauded and chanted “free, free Palestine” as people were arrested and taken to police vans parked on Ponton Road, just off the embassy grounds, before being transferred to police stations on Saturday. Officers started arresting some demonstrators one by one around midday, sometimes carrying them if they refused to walk.
One protester climbed a tree outside the embassy during the gathering and could be seen waving a placard reading “God help us. Teachers who support Palestine. Palestine Action”, with the crowd below chanting “tree, tree Palestine”. Others held signs reading “we are protesters, not terrorists” and “heroes, not terrorists”, while some wore keffiyehs and waved Palestinian flags.
Protester voices concerns
Charles Allison, 75, a retired lawyer who travelled from his home in Cumbria to attend the protest, said he was there because he “feared for our liberties”. He told the Press Association: “I decided that I ought to try and do something, and this is the little bit that I’m doing. I fear for our civil liberties, which are being devalued and watered down, even by this new Labour Government. So I’m dejected, but enthused that there are so many wonderful people protesting.”
Asked why he was protesting, Mr Allison told PA: “To show that there is no declining level of protest. I hope the Supreme Court justices, they won’t necessarily be influenced by it, but I hope that they will take a long-term view of what is happening in this country and decide that the proscription was unlawful, as I believe it was. I speak as an ex-lawyer, so it’s uncomfortable for me to break the law deliberately. But I felt that I could do no other.” Mr Allison was taken away by two police officers just before 1pm, after he was told he posed a “threat”.
Supreme Court appeal
Organised by activist group Defend Our Juries, the protest took place before an appeal at the Supreme Court against Palestine Action’s designation as a terror group on November 4.
