Police ‘chased’ down the street during ‘violent’ protest, shouting ‘scum’

Police officers in east London were “hunted” on Saturday night as protesters reacted furiously to reports of immigration raids

A protest in east London turned violent on Saturday night, and it was reported that police were being chased down the street.

Hundreds of protesters had previously taken to the streets of Kingsland High Street in Dalston.

Chants of “scum” and “F**k the Police” could be heard as officers were herded down the street.

A MyLondon A reporter at the scene described how protesters threw bottles before surrounding a lone police car and hitting it with rocks.

Earlier in the day, shouts of “let them go” were heard addressed to a group of officers, reportedly in reference to people who had been arrested.

Video footage of the incident, meanwhile, was shared on social media, with one Twitter user describing the scenes as “terrifying.”

The tweet was captioned: “Horrific scenes in Dalston today as police carried out immigration raid on delivery drivers.”

Another user said in a tweet that was shared more than a thousand times that three people had been arrested and encouraged others to join the protest.

The Met Police have since reported that officers have been conducting a pre-planned operation against “e-scooter and moped crime.”

A statement responding to the incident said: “At around 7pm on Saturday, May 14 officers conducted a pre-planned operation in Ashwin Street, Dalston, targeting e-scooter and moped crime.

“In the course of this operation, they stopped a man who was wanted for immigration crimes.

“When officers tried to arrest him for these crimes, a crowd gathered and tried to stop them. In a very short time, the crowd grew significantly.

“We are aware of efforts on social media to call people to the area to obstruct officers, suggesting the incident was an ‘immigration raid’.

“A number of officers were attacked. Luckily, they didn’t need hospital treatment. Police vehicles were also damaged. Several arrests have been made for criminal offenses, including violent disorder.

“We are aware of a number of videos on social media that were filmed during the incident. We urge people to remember that such videos rarely give a complete and accurate picture of what is going on.”