More than 80 people have been charged over alleged hate crimes and violence linked to anti-Israel protests in London since Hamas’ terror attack on Israel.
Thousands of demonstrators have converged on the UK capital over the past few weekends. This led politicians in Westminster to urge the Metropolitan Police to ban several demonstrations.
Figures released on Wednesday show the force made nearly 400 arrests between October 7 and November 18, 83 of whom have been charged.
John Harvey, a 75-year-old protester from Hackney, east London, who threw red paint at the Israeli embassy on November 11, will be sentenced next month after admitting criminal damage.
Meanwhile, police are hunting 20 men involved in counter-protests as hundreds of thousands of people attended an anti-Israel demonstration in London on Armistice Day.
The Metropolitan Police said there were several incidents of violent disorder across the capital, including around Whitehall, on November 11.
Scotland Yard has released images of the men, who detectives are investigating for a range of alleged offences including inciting racial hatred, racially aggravated public order offences and assault on police officers.
Commander Kyle Gordon from the Metropolitan Police said: “Public order policing doesn’t end when the event is over, and since remembrance weekend our teams have been working around the clock to identify those involved in any criminality that took place on the day.
“They’ve trawled through hundreds of hours of CCTV footage and are continuing to review evidence to help with enquiries.
“We need the public’s help to track down these men, who we want to speak to in connection with a range of offences.
“As with any public order event, we know that people may have travelled from outside of London, so we’re asking for people across the country to take a look at those pictured and get in touch if they recognise anyone.”
Separately, a 37-year-old man was arrested in west London earlier this week on suspicion of encouraging terrorism and showing support for a proscribed organisation.
Last week, officers also arrested a 21-year-old man in Brixton Hill on suspicion of spraying anti-Israel graffiti on the shutters of a shop, and a 22-year-old man on suspicion of making threats to kill while shouting antisemitic slurs in Stamford Hill.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, who is looking to tighten the law to make it easier to ban marches and prosecute those glorifying terrorism, said “all criminality must be met with the full and swift force of the law”.
