Anti-Austerity

London Rally Organizers Condemn Violence

201 arrested, 31 police injured in budget-cut march.

In a crowd of 250,000 to 500,000, you're bound to get a few bad apples. The massive London demonstration against budget cuts was for the most part peaceful, but a band of people in Trafalgar Square threw bricks, ammonia-filled lightbulbs, and coin-filled fireworks at police, injuring at least 31 officers, 11 of whom were hospitalized. "All was peaceful for quite a long while but then for some reason one of them made an attack on the Olympic [countdown] clock, we moved in to make an arrest, the next minute they're attacking us and they're trying to attack and damage the Olympic clock in Trafalgar Square,” said Commander Bob Broadhurst, calling the band of 100 or so people “mindless yobs.” Labour leader Ed Miliband, who spoke at the rally, said there was “no excuse” for the violence, and the Trade Union Congress, one of the organizers, condemned the violence as well, saying it should not detract from the message of the march. So far 201 people have been arrested, and police are monitoring CCTV footage to identify more rioters.