LONDON (AP) — British police scuffled with protesters outside Parliament on Saturday as they arrested more than 400 demonstrators who gathered to defy a ban on the group Palestine Action, which has been deemed a terrorist organization by the government.
Defend Our Juries, the campaign group organizing the protest, said 1,500 people took part in the London demonstration, sitting down and holding signs reading “I oppose genocide, I support Palestine Action.”
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Police officers carry a protester during a protest to support Palestine Action in London, Saturday, Sept. 6, 2025.(AP Photo/Joanna Chan)
Police officers carry a protester during a protest to support Palestine Action in London, Saturday, Sept. 6, 2025.(AP Photo/Joanna Chan)
Protesters argue with police officers during a protest to support Palestine Action in London, Saturday, Sept. 6, 2025.(AP Photo/Joanna Chan)
Police officers carry a protester during a protest to support Palestine Action in London, Saturday, Sept. 6, 2025.(AP Photo/Joanna Chan)
Police officers block a protest to support Palestine Action in London, Saturday, Sept. 6, 2025.(AP Photo/Joanna Chan)
Prortesters in Parliament Square are watched by police during a protest to support Palestine Action in London, Saturday, Sept. 6, 2025.(AP Photo/Joanna Chan)
Police officers carry a protester during a protest to support Palestine Action in London, Saturday, Sept. 6, 2025.(AP Photo/Joanna Chan)
Within minutes, police began arresting the demonstrators, as bystanders chanted “Shame on you” and “Met Police, pick a side, justice or genocide.” There were some scuffles and angry exchanges as officers dragged away demonstrators who went limp as they were removed from the crowd.
Eight hours after the protest started, police said they had arrested more than 425 people, more than 25 of them for assaulting officers or public order offenses and the rest under the Terrorism Act.
“In carrying out their duties today, our officers have been punched, kicked, spat on and had objects thrown at them by protesters,” said Deputy Assistant Commissioner Claire Smart, who called the abuse directed at police “intolerable.”
Defend Our Juries said aggression had come from police officers and dismissed claims that protesters had been violent as “frankly laughable.”
More than 700 people were arrested at earlier protests, and 138 have been charged under the Terrorism Act.
Mike Higgins, 62, who is blind and uses a wheelchair, was arrested last month but returned to demonstrate on Saturday.
“And I’m a terrorist? That’s the joke of it,” he said. “I’ve already been arrested under the Terrorism Act and I suspect I will be today.
“Of course I’ll keep coming back. What choice do I have?”
The government proscribed Palestine Action in July after activists broke into a Royal Air Force base and vandalized planes to protest against what they called Britain’s support for Israel’s offensive against Hamas in Gaza. The activists sprayed red paint into the engines of two tanker planes and caused further damage with crowbars.
Proscription made it a crime to publicly support the organization. Membership of, or support for, the group is punishable by up to 14 years in prison.
Palestine Action has carried out direct action protests in the U.K. since it formed in 2020, including breaking into facilities owned by Israeli weapons manufacturer Elbit Systems UK, and has targeted other sites in Britain that participants believe have links with the Israeli military.
The group has targeted defense companies and national infrastructure, and officials say their actions have caused millions of pounds in damage that affect national security.
Banning the group, then-Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said, “The assessments are very clear, this is not a nonviolent organization.”
Palestine Action has won approval from the High Court to challenge the ban, a ruling the government is seeking to overturn. The case is ongoing, with a hearing scheduled for Sept. 25.
The U.N. human rights chief has criticized the British government’s stance, saying the new law “misuses the gravity and impact of terrorism.”
The decision to designate Palestine Action as a terrorist group “raises serious concerns that counterterrorism laws are being applied to conduct that is not terrorist in nature, and risks hindering the legitimate exercise of fundamental freedoms across the UK,” Volker Türk warned.
He added that according to international standards, terrorist acts should be confined to crimes such as those intended to cause death or serious injury or the taking of hostages.
Huda Ammori, Palestine Action’s co-founder, has condemned the government’s decision to ban it as “catastrophic” for civil liberties, leading to a “much wider chilling effect on freedom of speech.”
The group has been supported by prominent cultural figures including bestselling Irish author Sally Rooney, who said she planned to use the proceeds of her work “to keep backing Palestine Action and direct action against genocide.”
Israel — founded in part as a refuge in the wake of the Holocaust, when some 6 million European Jews were murdered — vehemently denies it is committing genocide.
Britain’s government stressed that proscribing Palestine Action as a terrorist group does not affect other lawful groups — including pro-Palestinian or pro-Israel voices — campaigning or peacefully protesting.
About 20,000 people, by a police estimate, attended a separate pro-Palestinian march in London on Saturday.
Police officers carry a protester during a protest to support Palestine Action in London, Saturday, Sept. 6, 2025.(AP Photo/Joanna Chan)
Police officers carry a protester during a protest to support Palestine Action in London, Saturday, Sept. 6, 2025.(AP Photo/Joanna Chan)
Protesters argue with police officers during a protest to support Palestine Action in London, Saturday, Sept. 6, 2025.(AP Photo/Joanna Chan)
Police officers carry a protester during a protest to support Palestine Action in London, Saturday, Sept. 6, 2025.(AP Photo/Joanna Chan)
Police officers block a protest to support Palestine Action in London, Saturday, Sept. 6, 2025.(AP Photo/Joanna Chan)
Prortesters in Parliament Square are watched by police during a protest to support Palestine Action in London, Saturday, Sept. 6, 2025.(AP Photo/Joanna Chan)
Police officers carry a protester during a protest to support Palestine Action in London, Saturday, Sept. 6, 2025.(AP Photo/Joanna Chan)
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — President Donald Trump on Thursday threatened to invoke an 1807 law and deploy troops to quell persistent protests against the federal officers sent to Minneapolis to enforce his administration's massive immigration crackdown.
The threat comes a day after a man was shot and wounded by an immigration officer who had been attacked with a shovel and broom handle. That shooting further heightened the fear and anger that has radiated across the city since an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent fatally shot Renee Good in the head.
Trump has repeatedly threatened to invoke the Insurrection Act, a rarely used federal law, to deploy the U.S. military or federalize the National Guard for domestic law enforcement, over the objections of state governors.
“If the corrupt politicians of Minnesota don’t obey the law and stop the professional agitators and insurrectionists from attacking the Patriots of I.C.E., who are only trying to do their job, I will institute the INSURRECTION ACT, which many Presidents have done before me, and quickly put an end to the travesty that is taking place in that once great State,” Trump said in social media post.
Presidents have invoked the law more than two dozen times, most recently in 1992 by President George H.W. Bush to end unrest in Los Angeles. In that instance, local authorities had asked for the assistance.
Trump has repeatedly toyed with the idea of invoking the Insurrection Act, starting in his first term, but hasn't followed through. In 2020, for example, he threatened to use the act to quell protests after George Floyd was killed by Minneapolis police.
“I’m making a direct appeal to the President: Let’s turn the temperature down. Stop this campaign of retribution. This is not who we are,” Gov. Tim Walz, a Democrat, said on X.
Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison said he would challenge any such action in court. He's already suing to try to stop the surge by the Department of Homeland Security, which says officers have arrested more than 2,500 people since Nov. 29 as part of an immigration operation in the Twin Cities called Metro Surge.
The operation grew when ICE sent 2,000 officers and agents to the area early in January. ICE is a DHS agency.
In Minneapolis, smoke filled the streets Wednesday night near the site of the latest shooting as federal officers wearing gas masks and helmets fired tear gas into a small crowd. Protesters responded by throwing rocks and shooting fireworks.
Demonstrations have become common in Minneapolis since Good was fatally shot on Jan. 7. Agents who have yanked people from their cars and homes have been confronted by angry bystanders demanding they leave.
“This is an impossible situation that our city is presently being put in and at the same time we are trying to find a way forward to keep people safe,” Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey said.
The American Civil Liberties Union of Minnesota filed a class-action lawsuit on behalf of three people who said they were questioned or detained in recent days. The lawsuit says two are Somali and one is Hispanic; all three are U.S. citizens. The lawsuit seeks an end to what the ACLU describes as a practice of racial profiling and warrantless arrests. The government did not immediately comment.
Similar lawsuits have been filed in Los Angeles and Chicago and despite seeing initial success, have tended to fizzle in the face of appeal. In Chicago, for example, last year a judge ordered a senior U.S. Border Patrol official to brief her nightly following a lawsuit by news outlets and protesters who said agents used too much force during demonstrations. But three days later, an appeals court stopped the updates.
Homeland Security said in a statement that federal law enforcement officers on Wednesday stopped a driver from Venezuela who is in the U.S. illegally. The person drove off then crashed into a parked car before fleeing on foot, DHS said.
Officers caught up, then two other people arrived and the three started attacking the officer, according to DHS.
“Fearing for his life and safety as he was being ambushed by three individuals, the officer fired a defensive shot to defend his life,” DHS said. The confrontation took place about 4.5 miles (7.2 kilometers) from where Good was killed.
Police chief Brian O’Hara said the man who was shot did not have a life-threatening injury. O’Hara's account of what happened largely echoed that of Homeland Security, which later said the other two men were also in the U.S. illegally from Venezuela.
The FBI said several government vehicles were damaged and property inside was stolen when agents responded to the shooting. Photos show broken windows and insults made with paint. A reward of up to $100,000 is being offered for information. The FBI’s Minneapolis office did not immediately reply to messages seeking more details.
St. Paul Public Schools, with more than 30,000 students, said it would begin offering an online learning option for students who do not feel comfortable coming to school. Schools will be closed next week until Thursday to prepare for those accommodations.
Minneapolis Public Schools, which has a similar enrollment, is also offering temporary remote learning. The University of Minnesota will start a new term next week with different options depending on the class.
Madhani reported from Washington, D.C. and Golden reported from Seattle. Associated Press reporters Sophia Tareen in Chicago; Bill Barrow in Atlanta; Rebecca Santana in Washington; and Ed White in Detroit contributed.
Federal immigration officers confront protesters outside Bishop Henry Whipple Federal Building, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/John Locher)
Law enforcement officers at the scene of a reported shooting Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Adam Gray)
A woman covers her face from tear gas as federal immigration officers confront protesters outside Bishop Henry Whipple Federal Building, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Adam Gray)
A protester throws back a tear gas canister during a protest after a shooting on Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/John Locher)
Federal immigration officers confront protesters outside Bishop Henry Whipple Federal Building, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Adam Gray)
Minneapolis City Council Member Jason Chavez, second from left, blows a whistle with other activists to warn people of federal immigration officers Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/John Locher)
Tear gas surrounds federal law enforcement officers as they leave a scene after a shooting on Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/John Locher)
A child and family are escorted away after federal law enforcement deployed tear gas in a neighborhood during protests on Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Adam Gray)
A protester holds an umbrella as sparks fly from a flash bang deployed by law enforcement on Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Adam Gray)
Monica Travis shares an embrace while visiting a makeshift memorial for Renee Good, who was fatally shot by an ICE officer last week, Monday, Jan. 12, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/John Locher)
A protester yells in front of law enforcement after a shooting on Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/John Locher)
Tear gas surrounds federal law enforcement officers as they leave a scene after a shooting on Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/John Locher)
Protesters shout at law enforcement officers after a shooting on Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Abbie Parr)
Law enforcement officers stand amid tear gas at the scene of a reported shooting Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Adam Gray)
