Last night several thousand protesters gathered in Central London in a march organised by the web-based group "Anonymous".
Though seen as a "Hacktivist" and Anarchist movement, the main theme of the protest was anti-Austerity, and more generally, anti-Conservative governance.
Below is a collection of footage that I shot last night, without commentary. I have written a short description of events that my film shows, below the clip.
The night started calmly. At 6pm, there was a sizeable, though not extraordinary gathering at Trafalgar Square. The mood was calm, but ominous warnings from the Police hinted at what was to come.
Across the walls of the National Gallery, a laser was repeating the warning that protesters must take off their masks if asked to by a police officer, and that do not do so was an arrestable offence.
The police themselves were clearly ready for trouble, as they were all wearing body armour, and carrying their riot helmets on their belts.
As the march got under way, the police guarded some obvious spots. Most noticeably, 10 Downing Street, where a large barricade was in place, and supported by a number of officers. Though the voices in the crowd were louder and angrier at this point, it was still calm.
However, as the group moved to Westminster Square, they turned away from the organised route, and Police had to run to cut them off to the north.
As more officers moved in, transported in many speeding vans, a 'frontline' of sorts was again set up, this time supported by officer mounted on horseback.
However, these horses was justifiably 'spooked' by fireworks and firecrackers set off and thrown by protesters, and they pulled back after several near-misses.
They were replaced by yet more police, moving in formation reminiscent of Roman Legionnaires.
As would quickly become a theme of this protest, the crowd then moved again, this time towards Westminster Bridge, where more fireworks were set off, and joined by smoke-bombs and flares in front of the Houses of Parliament.
The hydra-like protest continued to move, and although New Scotland Yard was seemingly unprotected, it was largely ignored.
Instead, Buckingham Palace was soon surrounded by the masked masses, and again, hundreds of police.
This time, the mounted police did not retreat so easily, though that decision was surely rued in de-briefings, as one mount threw off his rider (the officer reportedly broke his wrist in the incident), and ran around the Victoria Memorial alone in one of the night's more surreal moments.
Cones and other missiles continued to be thrown, even as some of the crowd shouted to "Leave the horses alone".
After several marches up and down the Mall, the protest made its way back to Trafalgar, where scuffles broke out as the police tried to contain the much diminished group. One woman was hurt, and treated at the scene by a police medic.
The crowd then moved towards the National Gallery, but were contained as they tried to move to Leicester Square, and the police effectively kettled them on the steps of St Martin-in-the-Fields.
More arrests were made on Charing Cross Road, and some agitators attempted to stop police vans driving away, but ultimately failed.
By around 11:15pm, the police heavily outnumbered the 'Anonymous' crowds, and corralled those remaining off the steps of the church, and into the square again, where although some arrests continued, events died down.
The Metropolitan Police arrested around 50 people, mainly for Public Order offences. 3 Police officers were hurt, and taken to hospital.
