Ten officers were left injured after police clashed with a small number of demonstrators at a Black Lives Matter protest in London on Saturday.
Tens of thousands of people took to the streets in cities across the UK on Saturday to protest against systemic racism and show solidarity with Black Lives Matter protesters in the US following George Floyd’s death in police custody.
While the demonstrations were overwhelmingly peaceful, tensions broke out in Whitehall in the early evening, with some protesters reportedly throwing bottles, flares and other projectiles at police officers near Downing Street.
Footage showed a line of mounted police attempting to drive demonstrators away from the prime minister’s official residence, with one officer clattering from her horse as she collided with a set of traffic lights at high speed.
The crowd scattered as the animal bolted down the busy street, knocking a protester to the ground as it ran. Their condition is currently unknown.
The officer is currently in hospital, receiving treatment for her injuries which are not life threatening, the force said, adding that it is examining “the full circumstance of what took place” and that “the horse, uninjured, made its own way back to the stables, nearby”.
