Coronavirus: Arrests as anti-lockdown protesters and ‘Million Mask March’ gather in London | UK News

Arrests have been made after anti-lockdown protesters and “Million Masks March” protesters gathered in central London.

On the first day of England’s new national lockdown, police urged people to go home after they took to the streets near Trafalgar Square in the capital on Thursday night.

The protesters, very few of whom covered their faces, began walking down the Strand shortly after 6pm, chanting “freedom” and “no more confinements.”

Protesters were repeatedly asked to go home, and one officer yelled at a group: “They are breaking the law.”

Shortly after 7pm, a smaller demonstration gathered near Primark on Oxford Street, where several protesters were grouped by two lines of officers.

Piers Corbyn, brother of former Labor leader Jeremy Corbyn, was among those in Trafalgar Square.

He was fined £ 10,000 in August under the coronavirus rules for his role in an earlier protest against the lockdown.

A sign on display in Trafalgar Square read: “No more lockdowns, no more cover-ups, no more masks, no more lies.”

Before Thursday night, the organizers of the Million Masks March had urged people to use this year’s Guy Fawkes night to “rise as one and join us in the biggest MMM to date.”

The Million Masks March against the system is associated with the “hacktivist” group Anonymous.

Attendees often wear Guy Fawkes masks similar to those in the movie V for Vendetta, in which a hooded figure calls for an uprising on the streets of London against the dystopian authoritarian British government.

During the night of Thursday, the Metropolitan Police provided a series of updates on the protesters via Twitter.

“A large crowd of protesters are on Oxford Street and continue to gather,” the force posted shortly after 8pm.

“Arrests have been made because the protesters did not comply with the instructions of the officers.

“We continue to urge people to go home. We are still in a health crisis.”