Twelve people were arrested during clashes between police and protesters at an anti-Islamic terrorism rally and anti-fascist counter-demonstrations in central London.
The protest was held under the banner “London Under Attack” Saturday by far-right party Britain First, along with the anti-immigration English Defence League (EDL), to “protest against radical Islamic terrorism.”
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Counter-protesters, organized by the Unite Against Fascism group, marched alongside the demonstrators who they deemed to be anti-Islamic.
“Both groups are notorious Islamophobes whose concern is not with the victims or their relatives, but only lie in racism,” United Against Fascism said in a Facebook statement.
READ MORE: Islamophobia up after Westminster attack, say police... but Muslims disagree
London’s Metropolitan Police were forced to separate the groups that gathered near Trafalgar Square, in a tense stand-off heightened by emotion following the March 22 terrorist attack.
The march was held ten days after the Westminster attack that left four people dead and dozens injured. British-born attacker Khalid Masood rammed pedestrians on Westminster Bridge before slamming his vehicle into the gates of the parliament buildings and killing a police officer.