Over 500 arrests at Defend Our Juries peaceful demo in London

The Met Police have confirmed 523 arrests in Trafalgar Square on Saturday 11 April, where Defend Our Juries protesters staged a silent vigil against the genocide and the unlawful use of terrorism laws to silence opposition to the genocide.

This brings the total number of arrests for defying the Palestine Action ban from 2,779 to over 3,302.

Defend Our Juries out again

In March, the Met announced that the number of arrests for proscription offences relating to Palestine Action since the ban came into effect in July 2025, was 2,779 arrests.

The Met chose to make the arrests on 11 April despite the High Court ruling in February that the proscription of Palestine Action was unlawful as a violation of the democratic rights to free speech and peaceful assembly. Leading legal figures warned the Met that arrests at this peaceful vigil would be unlawful in light of the High Court ruling, pending the Court of Appeal hearing on 28 and 29 April.

Many of the Defend Our Juries supporters arrested were older or disabled people, with ages ranging from 18 to 87.

Arrestees included Robert Del Naja, the artist and musician from Massive Attack. The arrests took the number of terrorism arrests for quietly holding cardboard signs to over 3,300 since 5 July 2025.

Earlier in the day, a former Met police chief told BBC Radio 4 that arresting these peaceful protestors creates optics which are “very challenging for the police” and that there “will be a huge amount of people who have sympathy with what is going on with the views of Palestine Action”.

Bad optics

The Met Police’s mass arrests of Defend Our Juries protestors come despite their stating publicly in February that they would not arrest people for holding signs, given the illegality of the proscription order. They said at the time that not arresting people, pending the Government’s appeal, was “the most proportionate approach we can take”. On 25 March, for unclear reasons, they announced a U-turn on this policy.

Meanwhile, the Devon and Cornwall Police undermined the Met’s decision by refusing to make arrests under the Terrorism Act in Truro on 11 April. Protesters in Truro held exactly the same sign as protesters in London and police chose not to arrest, whereas the Met arrested 523 people.

Former Met Police chief superintendent, Dal Babu, previously said on BBC Radio 4:

I think the difficulty is, when you’ve got 700 or 800 people who are willing to be arrested, that just isn’t practical. The optics of this will be very challenging for the police.

It will present some significant difficulties for the police in terms of how they manage it and also be aware of the fact there will be a huge amount of people who have sympathy with what is going on with the views of Palestine Action.

“Surreal”

A spokesperson for Defend Our Juries said:

It is truly surreal that over 500 people have been arrested for defying a ban the High Court has declared unlawful. An already absurdly authoritarian measure has now descended even further into farce ahead of the Court of Appeal hearing this month.

The Met Police has inexplicably reversed its position that, in light of the High Court ruling and pending the Government’s attempt to appeal, it would not arrest peaceful protesters defying the ban. Leading legal figures warned these arrests could themselves be unlawful, and the Met now seems destined to face legal challenge over what may amount to hundreds, if not thousands of unlawful arrests.

The fact that Devon and Cornwall Police chose not to arrest protesters yesterday for holding the exact same signs only deepens the chaos surrounding the unlawful ban on Palestine Action and underlines a simple truth: this ban is unenforceable.

It’s obvious to every sane observer that the Israeli and US governments are committing war crimes in Gaza, the West Bank, Iran and in Lebanon. Instead of standing up to these atrocities, which are already having dire consequences for the British public, Keir Starmer’s government supports them, including by criminalising peaceful protest against these heinous crimes.

Everyone who cares for democracy and the rule of law should be appalled by what is happening, and should ask themselves what they can do personally to prevent the descent into fascism.

Featured image via Marly Lyman