Riots against the police broke out in Brixton last night after police responded to call concerning an illegal street party. The attack on the police left twenty-two officers injured, with two needing a full body scan.
Videos released online also showed a man attacking police with a wooden stick and others jumping on police vehicles. From the footage, it seems that hundreds of people had gathered for the event near Overton Road, Brixton.
This comes amongst continued criticism of the police’s response to violence following Black Lives Matter protests, where police officers were also injured.
Nigel Farage has commented on this connection, saying: “The police bosses allowed officers to take the knee to an anti-police group – the lawless are laughing at the police now.”
The Prime Minister’s official spokesman said: “These were appalling scenes. Violence against the police will not be tolerated. We have been clear that anyone who assaults the police or any members of the emergency services should face the full force of the law.”
The spokesman also announced that there were discussions taking place regarding the maximum sentence available for attacking an emergency worker.
As of now, there have been only four arrests in connection with the incident.
Priti Patel, the Home Secretary, tweeted in response to the incident: “Just last weekend, the whole country came together to praise our heroic police officers for putting their own lives on the line to keep us safe. I’ll be picking up with the Met Commissioner immediately.”
People also attacked Police Commissioner Cressida Dick for allowing another attack on the police force. Tory MP Andrew Bridgen told MailOnline: “Cressida Dick has lost control of the streets to a lawless minority. She has lost the confidence of the law-abiding majority of residents in Brixton and the country by effectively abandoning them to mob rule.”
Ken Marsh, chairman of the Metropolitan Police Federation said: “No-one expects this level of violence and hostility to just erupt at the speed it does towards the police. It’s horrendous.”
He added: “A couple of the officers are very seriously injured and have had CT scans; we’ve got some quite nasty injuries but the majority of them are walking wounded. Let’s not belittle any injury to my colleagues – every one is a serious injury for us.”
The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, also responded to the events, saying: “I’m in touch with the Met Police about the completely unacceptable events in Brixton overnight. Violence against the police will not be tolerated.”
