Nine people have been charged in London with public order offences relating to the riots in the city's financial district on Friday. The police have been examining video footage from local businesses in order to identify more offenders, and anticipate further arrests, according to a spokesman.
The Carnival Against Capitalism, which involved up to 42 groups and about 4,000 people, was intended as a peaceful protest against Third World debt, the arms trade and "unethical capitalist practices". It deteriorated into a riot, however, as anarchists laid siege to the police and the offices of financial institutions. The ensuing fracas escalated into the worst public disorder Britain has seen since the poll-tax riots in 1990.
A total of 46 people - including six police officers - required hospital treatment and millions of pounds worth of damage was done. In the aftermath of the turmoil, a war of words has broken out between police and protest organisers over who was responsible for the mayhem.
Assistant Commissioner of the City of London Police James Hart has accused the rioters of premeditated wanton violence. "Clearly these people came to the City with the full intention of causing mayhem", he said.
He told a press conference on Saturday that the protest began with just a few hundred peaceful demonstrators, but began to turn ugly as thousands began gathering at a nearby train station.
"A very carefully organised crowd split into four separate parts, and aimed their violence at unprotected police officers" he said, adding that organisers had refused to engage in pre-event planning with the police. The police have also claimed that some form of irritant gas was used against them during the confrontation.
Violence erupted when a woman was run over by a police van reversing through the crowd. The demonstrators then became enraged when a police vehicle accidentally struck a second individual.
Organisers have blamed the violence on "over-zealous" policing. Demonstrator Mr Mark Lines said that "police in full riot gear and looking extremely offensive charged towards the demonstrators and started attacking them."
The Lord Mayor of the City of London Mr Peter Levene said the affray amounted to an act of "wanton terrorism", turning the City into "nothing short of a war zone".
The demonstration was organised by J18 - an umbrella name for a network of anti-capitalist groups. A number of the protesters said that they would be back to stage a second demonstration at the same time next month.