London police announce restrictions on anti-racism protests

London police on Saturday announced a series of measures and restrictions on anti-racism protests, which are expected to happen on the weekend. 

Measures including requiring the events to end at 17:00 BST are in place following violent scenes last weekend.

Due to the concern about the COVID-19 pandemic, local police also called on people not to attend the demonstrations in the capital and choose other ways to express their voices.

Statues of historical figures, including Winston Churchill, which have been at the forefront of demonstrations by anti-racism groups, were boarded up on Friday ahead of the expected protests in London.

The statue of WWII leader Churchill outside Parliament was sprayed with graffiti last week after what had been a mostly peaceful demonstration over the death of George Floyd.

So far, there were dozens of arrests and 27 police officers were injured in demonstrations, which police said were on the whole peaceful.