Three student protesters were arrested on Tuesday after occupying a building at the University of London's Senate House headquarters. Police said one was held on suspicion of assaulting an officer, but demonstrators accused police of assaulting them.
Video footage seen by the Guardian appears to show a police officer punching a hooded protester in the face. The demonstrator, who gave his name as Tee Jay, 24, from Hackney, north London, said: 'Nothing was said, the police were trying to clear the crowd of people. I turned my back to [the police officer] to kind of walk away, he pushed, I kind of turned round to see who it was – why are you pushing me? The punch came and I went straight to the floor.'
Another protester, philosophy student Helen Singh, claimed she was pushed over by officers who were 'punching people indiscriminately'. She said: 'We were walking away from the protest. I was pushed to the ground and my glasses smashed into three pieces.'
The University of London Union (ULU) released a statement saying: 'We are still investigating what happened inside, but initial reports indicate that protesters were assaulted by both police and security: thrown to the ground, kicked and punched, and dragged to the ground by their hair.' ULU President Michael Chessum wrote on Twitter that the eviction was 'one of the nastiest, most brutal I've seen on a campus in a long time'.
Around 60 students staged a peaceful sit-in, issuing ten demands including a halt to privatisation, fair pay for workers, and the cancellation of a controversial plan to close the student union. The Metropolitan police said one person was arrested on suspicion of assaulting a police officer, and two others were arrested to prevent a breach of the peace and later released.
