By Adam Durbin & Daniel Sandford
BBC News
The head of anti-monarchist campaign group Republic has been arrested at a protest in Trafalgar Square ahead of the Coronation.
Footage appeared to show demonstrators in “Not My King” t-shirts being arrested by police, including Graham Smith, CEO of Republic.
Six protesters, including Mr Smith, were arrested while unloading placards near Trafalgar Square, the group said.
“So much for the right to peaceful protest,” the group said, adding the officers would not give the reasons for their arrest and confirmed their CEO was among them.
Matt Turnbull, one of those arrested, said the straps holding the placards had been “misconstrued” as something that could be used for locking on.
The BBC later saw Mr Turnbull being led away in handcuffs.
The Metropolitan Police has been approached for comment but has not confirmed the number of those detained.
New legislation passed this week made it illegal to prepare to lock-on to things like street furniture.
On Wednesday, the Metropolitan Police said they would have an “extremely low threshold” for protests during coronation celebrations, adding that demonstrators should expect “swift action”.
Republic said hundreds of their placards had been seized and questioned: “Is this democracy?”
“Some ask why we’re protesting. It’s because we want to use the coronation to change the debate about the monarchy and show that we’re not a nation of royalists,” the campaign group wrote.
The number of people at the anti-monarchy protest near Trafalgar Square in central London is growing, with the crowds bursting into chants of “Not my King” and “Free Graham Smith”.
The protest has been arranged near the route of the Coronation procession, where thousands are gathering to watch the procession from Buckingham Palace to Westminster Abbey ahead of the ceremony this afternoon.
A number of Just Stop Oil protesters appear to have been been arrested on the Mall, with a large group from the climate change campaign group seen in handcuffs.
