Dramatic scenes as police conflict with crowd in Camberwell after protests flip violent | EUROtoday

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A protest close to a theatre in south London turned violent with law enforcement officials coming below assault.

Met Police officers had been referred to as to the demostration involving round 50 individuals in Camberwell Road in Southwark on Saturday afternoon. A spokesperson mentioned the protest, near The Lighthouse Theatre, was associated to “tensions amongst the Eritrean community”.

Footage shared on-line confirmed members of the general public wavings sticks and throwing limitations at riot police, whereas visitors was dropped at a standstil. The Met confirmed arrests had been made, however it’s not but clear what number of.

A press release shared by the Met’s Southwark police staff on X mentioned: “Officers are on scene in Camberwell Road, SE5 where there is a protest with approximately 50 people gathered outside a private venue.

“Additional officers are on their way to the location to assist with the demonstration.”

A dispersal order was introduced in for an space across the protest by the native police staff simply earlier than 2.30pm, and lasts till 7am on Sunday. Under the order, officers have the ability to take away individuals from the realm.

However, footage from round 4pm confirmed an obvious “stand off” with officers.

Videos shared on-line additionally confirmed police line the highway with a number of riot vans within the space. A person could possibly be heard utilizing a mega cellphone to talk to a gathered crowd in one other video.

It’s been instructed on social media that the protest centred on a gathering being held by the Eritrean embassy, and there was an preliminary confrontation between two teams.

The spokesperson for the Met Police instructed The Independent: “The protest is related to tensions amongst the Eritrean community.”

Eritrea is without doubt one of the poorest international locations in Africa, positioned on the Red Sea coast between Ethiopia and Sudan. The one-party state gained its independence from Ethioipa after a 30-year warfare in 1993, however has since been impacted by extended intervals of battle.

Thousands have fled the nation in recent times, with some arriving within the UK.

In September final yr, an indication was held outdoors the Eritrean Embassy in Islington in opposition to the nation’s occupation of the Tigray area. The Met Police made 15 arrests for offences together with public order.

And in August of this yr, anti-Eritrean authorities protesters held a protest throughout a cultural competition in Sweden.