8 officers injured at anti-lockdown protest in Hyde Park
One female police officer was photographed bleeding from a cut to her head.
Last updated 25th Apr 2021
Eight police officers are said to have been injured, with two needing hospital treatment, as anti-lockdown protests at Hyde Park turned violent.
Demonstrators in "pockets of disorder" hurled bottles as officers tried to disperse the crowds on Saturday evening, according to the Metropolitan Police.
Photographs posted on social media show a female police officer bleeding from a cut to her head, while another suffered a similar wound on his forehead.
Earlier in the day, conspiracy theorists and lockdown-sceptics heckled mask-wearing shoppers on Oxford Street, while others walked through the West End with banners themed around freedom, vaccine misinformation, and their concerns about the supposed intentions of Bill Gates.
The march, made up of thousands of people, continued via Blackfriars to The City, with demonstrators holding banners reading "Covid-19 Vaccine Holocaust'', and: "No To Vaccine Passports.''
Some of the demonstrators waved flags or shouted into megaphones. None seemed to be wearing masks or practicing social distancing.
"Totalitarian"
Concern for civil liberties was one of the main motivations of the protesters.
"I think we're being taken over by what's fast becoming a totalitarian state which is based on very bad science - there's a fraud behind the lot of it", said one.
Another claimed "This is like being in a Nazi state, and as somebody who's Jewish, I'm very aware. We're in a prison here - people don't even realise we're in a prison."
The UK government's roadmap for ending lockdown is due to remove all legal limits on social contact on or after 21 June.
"Targeted"
The clashes in Hyde Park prompted the body representing rank and file officers to call on the UK government to do "much more" to support the police during lockdown.
John Apter, national chairman of the Police Federation of England and Wales, said "These officers are just doing a job, they're somebody's son, daughter they're mums and dads.
"To be targeted in the way they are says a lot about the society we've become.
"I will continue to do my best to support them but I need Government to do more, much more.''
Five people were arrested for offences including assault on police, the Met said.
The force said the two officers that had been taken to hospital were not thought to be seriously injured.