A water fight turned into a “war zone” yesterday as hundreds of people clashed with police, after trouble began during a water-fight and music gathering. The event is organised yearly on Facebook, but this year things got nasty as teenagers attacked police with bottles and knives in the worst outbreak of ‘youth violence’ since the 2011 riots. They began shouting “Black Lives Matter” while the violence continued.
Three people including a police officer were stabbed during the turmoil. Scotland Yard have said that one officer was knifed and another was hit with a bottle as things were thrown at police just before 9pm.
Two other people were stabbed in the mess, which witnesses called a “war zone”. The Standard reports how families and office workers “scattered” as thousands of teenagers fought running battles with riot police along the Serpentine.
The “mob” was pushed back to Marble Arch where near 500 stayed until midnight, apparently hurling bottles at the police and chanting “Black Lives Matter.”
A rogue group entered a McDonald’s nearby, leaping over the counters to steal food. Terrified staff ran downstairs.
Riot vans blocked off Oxford Street to stop the crowds spilling into the shopping area.
With the teenagers shouting “Black Lives Matter”, supporters of the movement aren’t happy that such violence has been attributed to the necessary movement. Luckily, most of London’s headlines including those from Sky News, the Evening Standard and the Guardian focus on the police stabbings rather than the tainting of the movement, but yesterday’s events definitely won’t improve some people’s already negative views.
Young Black Lives Matter supporters took to Twitter to share their disappointment in the teenager’s actions.