London: UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson has said the weekend's anti-racism protests were subverted by thuggery after some demonstrators clashed with police, it was reported on Monday.
Thousands of protesters gathered on Saturday and Sunday in London, as well as cities across the UK including Bristol, Manchester, Wolverhampton, Nottingham, Glasgow and Edinburgh, the BBC reported.
Protests were generally peaceful, with aerial footage showing thousands of demonstrators flooding the roads outside the US embassy in Vauxhall, south London, before marching towards Parliament Square and Downing Street.
Unrest in London on Sunday led to eight officers being injured and 12 people being arrested.
Read | Churchill statue vandalised in London during protests
In Bristol, police confirmed there would be an investigation into criminal damage of a statue of Edward Colston - a prominent 17th Century slave trader - which was ripped down by protesters.
Johnson condemned the violence, posting on Twitter: "People have a right to protest peacefully & while observing social distancing but they have no right to attack the police. These demonstrations have been subverted by thuggery - and they are a betrayal of the cause they purport to serve. Those responsible will be held to account."
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People have a right to protest peacefully & while observing social distancing but they have no right to attack the police. These demonstrations have been subverted by thuggery - and they are a betrayal of the cause they purport to serve. Those responsible will be held to account.
— Boris Johnson #StayAlert (@BorisJohnson) June 7, 2020 " class="align-text-top noRightClick twitterSection" data="
">People have a right to protest peacefully & while observing social distancing but they have no right to attack the police. These demonstrations have been subverted by thuggery - and they are a betrayal of the cause they purport to serve. Those responsible will be held to account.
— Boris Johnson #StayAlert (@BorisJohnson) June 7, 2020People have a right to protest peacefully & while observing social distancing but they have no right to attack the police. These demonstrations have been subverted by thuggery - and they are a betrayal of the cause they purport to serve. Those responsible will be held to account.
— Boris Johnson #StayAlert (@BorisJohnson) June 7, 2020
Paulette Simpson, director of The Voice newspaper, said the violence was regretful but had not hijacked the protest.
Simpson, the director of one of Britain's top black newspapers, said people had a legitimate right to protest issues that have reached boiling-point, but urged people to restrain themselves and to try to contain their emotions, the BBC reported.
Read | Clashes erupt at 'Black Lives Matter' protest in London
She said she did not feel the violence had hijacked the protests' message but appealed to people not to do so.
John Apter, national chairman of the Police Federation, said while he understood there was an awful lot of anger and frustration his concern and sadness was that the legitimate message of the protests had been hijacked by some who are intent on violence against police.
He told the BBC that it was unforgivable that some people have been laughing and joking about the violence faced by police - and warned it could lead many people to lose sympathy for the protests.
(IANS)
