More than 300 people were arrested outside the US embassy in London on Saturday during a protest supporting Palestine Action, a group banned under UK terrorism legislation. The Metropolitan Police said 325 arrests were made, with 320 for "expressing support for a proscribed organisation under the Terrorism Act". Some protesters refused to walk and were carried away by police.
Palestine Action was proscribed in July 2025. The UK Supreme Court is due to review the ban after the group's co-founder was granted permission to appeal it. The Home Office said it will defend the proscription.
According to Home Office figures, at least 4,089 people have been arrested in relation to the group since its ban, including 3,630 in the year ending June 2026, 134 outside Westminster Magistrates Court earlier this year, and those arrested on Saturday.
Retired lawyer Charles Allison, 75, who was arrested during the protest, said he feared for civil liberties. "I hope that they will take a long-term view of what is happening in this country and decide that the proscription was unlawful, as I believe it was," he said. Amnesty International UK called for the government to drop the proscription. Defend Our Juries, which coordinated the protest series, called the arrests "unjust" and an assault on free speech.