Police say Republican demonstrators plotted to ’cause public nuisance’
Police arrested some anti-monarchist demonstrators and confiscated protest placards ahead of the coronation of King Charles III on Saturday. Protesters say they want to be able to choose their head of state.
The Metropolitan Police said on Saturday morning, “A major police operation” Underway in central London.Shortly after, police announced the arrest of four people “Suspected of Conspiracy to Endanger the Public” Three others were “suspected of possessing objects causing criminal damage”.The first group was found to have “lock device”, said the police.
“Public nuisance” are criminalized under controversial protest laws introduced last year, while “locking” A tactic promoted by climate activists was criminalized earlier this week when a separate public order bill came into force.
Anti-monarchy group Republic said its leader and five key organizers were among those arrested, and hundreds of its placards had been confiscated by police. The European Republican Movement Alliance, which opposes the continent’s monarchies, posted a video on social media showing the detention of republic leader Graham Smith.
Other photos and videos showed officials confiscating a bundle of stickers that read “Not My King” in Trafalgar Square, where hundreds of demonstrators gathered against the coronation of Britain’s new monarch. placards and took down protesters’ banners.The Trafalgar Square crowd chanted as Charles III was crowned inside Westminster Abbey “Down with the Crown” and “Get a real job.”
The main sabotage republican planning a peaceful protest was arrested in central London and materials were confiscated. More info, we have it.solidarity @RepublicStaffpic.twitter.com/yT1gmYYpCU
— Labor for the Republic 🌹🗳️ (@Labour4Republic) May 6, 2023
“What we want is not a coronation, but an election. We want a choice not Charles. Simple as that,” The Republic tweeted ahead of the ceremony.
Trafalgar Square was the symbolic site of the protest. As well as being located along the coronation procession route, the square also houses a statue of King Charles I, who was executed in 1649 after the English Civil War. After his death, England briefly became a republic until the crowning of his son Charles II in 1660 restored the monarchy.
Elsewhere in London, police arrests “about 20” The group said the climate protesters belonged to the “Just Stop Oil” group. A spokesman for Just Stop Oil claimed the protesters had no plans to disrupt the coronation but only planned to display T-shirts with the group’s name on it, and described the police action as “A dystopian nightmare.”
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