A police officer was allegedly punched in the face and four people were arrested during an anti-immigration protest in Canary Wharf on Sunday. The Metropolitan Police reported that a peaceful demonstration along Manchester Road and Westferry Road on the Isle of Dogs turned aggressive when a small number of masked protesters targeted members of the public and police.
The group, numbering between 50 and 100, moved into Canary Wharf shopping centre at around 4.30pm. Authorities issued a Section 60AA order to prevent the concealment of identities with masks and a Section 35 dispersal order directing protesters to leave, both in effect until midnight. Arrests were made for common assault, drug possession, assault on police, public order offences, and failure to disperse.
Commander Adam Slonecki said the disorder followed five arrests in West Drayton the previous day. He noted that many community members, including women and children, attended the protest peacefully, but those masked and intent on causing trouble would be dealt with robustly.
Meanwhile, in Epping, three people were arrested after hundreds gathered outside the Bell hotel, which houses asylum seekers. Essex police reported a woman arrested for breaching a Section 14 order, a man for inciting racial hatred after an emblem was set alight on Friday, and another for failing to disperse. The hotel has been a focal point since an asylum seeker was accused of sexually assaulting two 14-year-old girls, a charge he denies.
Assistant Chief Constable Stuart Hooper urged peaceful protest within legal parameters, acknowledging the strength of feeling in Epping but emphasising that crime would not be tolerated.
