British PM says people shouldn't attend demos
These were the scenes on the streets of central London last weekend as clashes broke out with police after a day of anti-racism protests.
Statues of public figures were targeted - including the memorial to former British Prime Minister Winston Churchill.
Clearly hoping to avoid any repeat, on Friday, Prime Minster Boris Johnson warned people not to attend demonstrations this weekend
Adding that anyone attacking public property would face the full force of the law.
"And what makes me sad about what's happening today is you've got a situation where the statue of Winston Churchill who is a national hero has had to be boarded up for fear of violent attack. That to me is both absurd and wrong. You should not have a situation in which people who are protesting on one basis are violently attacking police or public property. And I'm afraid what's happened with these demonstrations is a growing minority have hijacked them."
Anti-racism protesters, who have staged demonstrations since the death of African American George Floyd, have put statues at the forefront of their challenge to Britain's imperialist past.
