Million Mask March 2016: Met warns of crackdown on 'masked criminals' after 2015 chaos

Tensions: Police and protesters at the 2015 Million Mask March
Yui Mok/PA Wire
Tom Powell3 November 2016

A top Scotland Yard officer has issued a warning to “masked criminals seeking to run amok” at this weekend’s so-called Million Mask March.

Thousands are set to descend on central London on Saturday for the annual bonfire night protest organised by activist group Anonymous.

Last year’s march brought chaos as missiles and fireworks were thrown at police officers, leaving four in hospital and injuring six police horses.

A police car was also set on fire as 50 arrests were made for possession of offensive weapons, committing criminal damage and assaulting officers.

Now Met Commander BJ Harrington has sent a fierce message to those planning to attend the march, claiming “there are people who come along intent on criminality”.

Warning: Commander BJ Harrington said officers will arrest anyone committing a criminal act
Met police

He said: “Over recent years this event, Million Mask March, has caused significant disruption to Londoners with increasing amounts of anti-social behaviour, violence, damage to public property and businesses.

“Last year we saw participants causing criminal damage to public property, smashing the windows of businesses and attacking police officers all whilst harassing and intimidating families as they visited theatres, dined out or shopped in the West End.

“The public found this completely unacceptable. This was not peaceful protest by any measure. Those who chose to behave like this are not protestors, they are criminals, and they undermine the thousands of people who protest responsibly and safely in London every year.

He added: “Any claim that somehow the police are ‘responsible’ for this violence is simply not borne out by the facts.”

It comes after secretive group Anonymous blamed the Met for last year’s havoc, claiming officers put on a “pitiful display of aggression and violence”.

This year demonstrators will gather in Trafalgar Square at 6pm before the march begins around an hour later.

In a statement promoting the march on Facebook, the organisers slammed the “abuses and malpractice of this government, and governments before it”.

They then encouraged “activists, workers, students, doctors, nurses and all those that want to see a positive change in the world” to join.

“The government and the 1 per cent have played their hand, now it is time to play ours,” it ended.

The Million Mask March is part of a global anti-establishment movement spearheaded by Anonymous, with the masks inspired by the final scene in 2006 thriller V for Vendetta.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in