More than 300 people were arrested in London on Saturday after they gathered to show support for Palestine Action, a group the UK government has banned. The protest took place at Nine Elms, near the US embassy.
Hundreds of demonstrators turned up at the venue, and many carried placards that read "I oppose genocide, I support Palestine Action." The Metropolitan Police confirmed on Sunday that 325 people had been arrested. On social media, the police said 320 of them were held for showing support for an organisation banned under the Terrorism Act.
Officers kept making arrests until late in the evening, leading the protesters to waiting police vans. Some onlookers clapped as this went on, and a few demonstrators chanted "Free, free Palestine." Some of the protesters refused to walk, so police had to carry them.
Among those picked up was Charles Allison, a 75-year-old retired lawyer who travelled all the way from Cumbria to join the protest. He said he was worried about the state of civil liberties in the country. He added that he hoped the Supreme Court judges would look at the bigger picture and rule that the ban was unlawful. Another protester, David Bolden, who was still waiting to be arrested, described the law as "absurd."
The numbers keep growing. Palestine Action was banned in July 2025, and since then at least 4,000 people have been arrested in connection with the group. Home Office figures seen by the BBC show 3,630 arrests in the year ending June 2026. Adding the 134 people arrested outside Westminster Magistrates Court earlier this year and Saturday's arrests, the total comes to 4,089.
Defend Our Juries, the group that has been organising the protests, called the arrests "unjust" and an attack on free speech. It also described the situation as "truly dystopian." Amnesty International UK has also criticised the arrests and urged the government to lift the ban.
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