Police clash with far-right protestors in London

Police were pelted with bottles during scuffles with demonstrators in London, where thousands gathered despite warnings to avoid protests.

There was violence on the streets of the UK capital on Saturday, where far-right groups had travelled on the premise of "defending" statues and memorials from being defaced in anti-racist protests.

Reports say extreme right-wing protesters, some brandishing neo-Nazi regalia, clashed with police.

This picture is from the anti-#BlackLivesMatterUK London protests today. The runes on the shirt read ᚱᛖᛞ ᛁᚲᛖ or Red Ice, a Swedish Neo-Nazi platform led by American White Supremacist Lana Lokteff.

Actual Nazis pretending to be #StatueDefenders to incite racial hatred. pic.twitter.com/I2bJVbPjJL

— Simon Fern (@leafyfronds) June 13, 2020

The Black Lives Matter group in London had earlier called off its official demonstration planned for Saturday due to concerns over safety and planning.

This, however, did not stop various groups from around the country, including right-wing activists, from descending on the city and clashing with police while claiming to be protecting symbols of British history.

Statues of wartime Prime Minister Winston Churchill and the Cenotaph war memorial were both boarded up before the demonstrations, in order to stop them from becoming flashpoints for violence. Both monuments had been vandalized in anti-racism protests held the week before. Authorities also fenced off other statues in Parliament Square, including memorials to Nelson Mandela and Abraham Lincoln.