.jpg?trim=0,0,0,0&width=1200&height=800&crop=1200:800 "Luigi Mangione due to appear in court again after secret hearing in CEO murder case – UK Times")
The Metropolitan Police arrested 18 Palestine Action supporters after announcing it would resume taking action against protesters supporting the proscribed organisation.
The force said Saturday afternoon that a group of people were staging a protest in support of the banned group outside New Scotland Yard.
A picture on its X account shows the demonstrators sitting on the steps in front of the Westminster building. The force wrote in the caption: “Arrests are now under way outside New Scotland Yard.”
It comes days after the Met announced they will resume arresting protesters for holding signs in support of the banned group.
In February, the force paused doing so after the High Court ruled that the Government’s ban of the group was unlawful.
However, the Met announced earlier this week that its officers will resume arresting protesters because the appeal against the ruling is likely to take several months.
Deputy Assistant Commissioner James Harman said on Wednesday that it is still a criminal offence to support Palestine Action, adding: “We must enforce the law as it is at the time, not as it might be at a future date. We must do that consistently and without fear or favour.”
Since Palestine Action was proscribed as a terrorist organisation last year, more than 2,700 have been arrested for allegedly expressing support for the group.
Mass rallies have been held across the country where demonstrators hold up signs saying: “I oppose genocide, I support Palestine Action”.
The trials of hundreds of people accused of holding up the placards have been put on hold while the legal battle over whether the group should have been banned rumbles on.
Earlier this month Chief Magistrate Paul Goldspring said the cases would be delayed until after the High Court Appeal over the ban is heard.
Proscription makes it a criminal offence to belong to or support Palestine Action, punishable by up to 14 years in prison.
A number of protests have taken place in London on Saturday.
Half a million people gathered in the city for an anti-far right demonstration, organisers estimated, where protesters carrying placards saying “No to racism, no to Trump”, and “Refugees welcome” while they marched through the capital to Whitehall.
