Almost 900 demonstrators were arrested at a central London rally protesting against the banning of Palestine Action as a terror group, the Metropolitan Police has said.
An estimated 1,500 took part in the protest in Parliament Square, Westminster, on Saturday and the force condemned the “intolerable” abuse it claims its officers suffered.
But organisers, campaign group Defend Our Juries (DOJ), insisted the rally was “the picture of peaceful protest”.
A total of 890 people were arrested, with 857 arrests made for showing support for a proscribed group, while 33 people were arrested for assaulting police officers and other public order offences.
Police officers remove a protester. Photograph: Jeff Moore/PA Wire 
Police officers remove a protester. Photograph: Jeff Moore/PA Wire
Palestine Action was banned as a terror organisation in July after the group claimed responsibility for an action in which two Voyager planes were damaged at RAF Brize Norton on June 20th.
More than 700 others have already been arrested over their expressed support for the organisation, including large numbers at protest events and individual cases around the UK.
A 74-year-old woman wearing a Palestine Action t-shirt was arrested and subsequently released in Belfast last month.
Palestine Action is banned under the Terrorism Act 2000, the same legislation that bans Islamist terror groups such as Isis, the Russian mercenary Wagner Group and white supremacist organisations such as The Base.
The activist group has won approval from the UK High Court to challenge the ban, with a hearing scheduled later this month in relation to the case. –PA