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The scenes in Hyde Park on Saturday evening have been widely criticised (Picture: Newsflare)Priti Patel has blasted \u2018thugs\u2019 who fought with police during the \u2018senseless violence\u2019 at an anti-lockdown protest on Saturday.
\nThe Home Secretary promised to get tough on a \u2018criminal minority\u2019 after eight officers were injured. Two were taken to hospital but do not have serious injuruies.
\nHer intervention comes as a police leader said he would be raised with senior management in the Metropolitan Police with \u2018utmost urgency\u2019.
\nDemonstrators hurled bottles and punches as officers attempted to disperse crowds in Hyde Park last night, following a march and rally that featured banners with messages including: \u2018You don\u2019t need proof to know truth.\u2019
\nPhotographs posted on social media showed a female police officer bleeding from a cut to her head while another suffered a similar wound on his forehead.
\nA scientific expert warned that the protesters could be spreading the virus while the Met said five people were arrested for offences including assault on police and public order offences.
\nKen Marsh, the chairman of the Metropolitan Police Federation \u2013 which represents thousands of rank-and-file officers \u2013 said: \u2018We can assure everyone that we shall be raising the scenes we witnessed in Hyde Park yesterday with senior management in the Metropolitan Police with utmost urgency.<\/p>\n
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\u2018The safety of our police officers should be top of the agenda. We wish all our injured colleagues a swift recovery and will be supporting them as best as we can.\u2019
\nThe protest, which also took place in Oxford Street, came almost two weeks after coronavirus lockdown restrictions in England were relaxed as part of the Government\u2019s roadmap.
\nMs Patel tweeted on Sunday: \u2018Our brave police are the best of us and should not be the target of senseless violence by a criminal minority for just doing their job.
\n\u2018I am getting tough on these thugs and will be doubling the sentence for assault of an emergency worker.
\n\u2018I wish the officers a speedy recovery.\u2019<\/p>\n
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Mr Marsh added: \u2018Peaceful protest may well be the cornerstone of democracy \u2013 and police officers have a role in facilitating that \u2013 but the scenes we saw in Hyde Park yesterday of a thin blue line of brave and sadly bloodied police officers coming under attack from thugs were anything but peaceful.
\n\u2018Police officers are human beings who go out every day to keep people safe.
\n\u2018Many people seem to have forgotten that right now but we will keep reminding them.
\n\u2018Our colleagues have every right to go home to their families at the end of their shifts. Not to hospital.\u2019
\nMr Marsh noted that the country is still in the middle of a pandemic, adding \u2018our unvaccinated police officers deserve greater protection\u2019.<\/p>\n
Our brave police are the best of us and should not be the target of senseless violence by a criminal minority for just doing their job.I am getting tough on these thugs and will be doubling the sentence for assault of an emergency worker.I wish the officers a speedy recovery. https:\/\/t.co\/oSkZkI7fl1\u2014 Priti Patel (@pritipatel) April 25, 2021<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, a scientific expert said anti-lockdown protesters who touch, shout and shun masks are \u2018at the very least a potential risk\u2019 for spreading Covid-19, adding there is some evidence of mass events having an impact.
\nProfessor Stephen Reicher, a member of the influential Scientific Pandemic Insights Group on Behaviours (Spi-B), said counties in the US which held Trump rallies saw bigger spikes in infection than those who did not.
\nHe said: \u2018Moreover, the mass election rallies in India and the permission to bring huge religious festivals forward from 2022 to 2021 (the Kumbh Mela at Haridwar) is one explanation for the huge rise of cases in India.
\n\u2018Much depends on how people behave in these events. If they maintain distance and wear masks, there is little danger.
\n\u2018If they explicitly ignore restrictions, if they reject masks, stand close together, touch, shout and sing, then \u2013 going back to first principles \u2013 there is likely to be a risk.
\n\u2018Given that the anti-lockdown protests do all of these things, they are at the very least a potential risk.\u2019
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\tMORE : Priti Patel slams \u2018appalling\u2019 sexist quote \u2013 then is told boss Boris said it<\/p>\n