BLM organisers call off London event to avoid clashes with far right
Efforts are being made to head off the possibility of clashes between Black Lives Matters activists and far-right demonstrators in London this Saturday, as anti-racism activists gear up for another weekend of protests. Black Lives Matters organisers said they had decided to call off a planned protest at Hyde Park at 1pm on Saturday, warning that “many hate groups” were threatening the safety of those planning to come.“We want the protests to be a safe space for people to attend,” a post from the BLM LDN organisers said. “However, we don’t think it will be possible with people like them present.”Far-right groups, with the support of extremists such as Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, who calls himself Tommy Robinson, plan to hold a “defend our memorials” event at Winston Churchill’s statue on Parliament Square, where considerable numbers could be present. The extremists claim they intend to prevent the landmarks from being targeted after Churchill’s statue was daubed with graffiti describing the wartime prime minister as a racist on Sunday. There are fears among anti-racist campaigners that marauding gangs of hooligans will seek out BLM protesters around London with the intention of confronting them.
