London Police Attacked With Bottles After Protest At Rashan Charles' Death Turns Violent

'This is patently NOT what the family of Rashan Charles wanted'.

A protest about a man’s death following a police chase turned violent on Friday night, as people erected makeshift roadblocks and threw bottles at officers.

Wheelie bins, mattresses and debris blocked part of Kingsland Road in east London, where crowds gathered in response to the death of Rashan Charles.

Some of the makeshift blocks were set on fire. Riot police, including police on horseback, tried to regain control of the situation.

PA Wire/PA Images

Dozens of protesters, some masked, lined the streets. Shattered glass littered the road, where a handful of protesters held Black Lives Matter placards.

At one point, a line of officers were filmed walking back in retreat as items were launched towards them.

Riot vans brought in to control the situation also came under attack.

Riot police at the protest in Kingsland Road
Riot police at the protest in Kingsland Road
PA Wire/PA Images
PA Wire/PA Images

The protest started mid-afternoon but by early evening, it had turned violent, with attempts being made to block roads and bottles being thrown at police.

Later, a truck was driven through one of the barricades protesters had erected.

Footage shows it pushing a wheelie ban while demonstrators cling to it and one even makes it to the roof of the vehicle, all while it continue driving on.

Restaurants and bars pulled down their shutters and locked customers inside as police pushed protesters down Kingsland High Street and beyond Dalston Kingsland Station.

The violence is believed to have ended around 11pm, but a helicopter continued to circle above the area while the streets remained littered with broken glass.

Later in the evening, police tweeted an image of a damaged police car and said their officers had suffered “abuse and violence”.

“Whatever the frustrations, this is patently NOT what the family of Rashan Charles wanted,” they said.

Earlier this week, the Charles family urged people not to commit any violence in anger about his death.

Scotland Yard said “a number of items including bottles” were thrown at officers attending a “planned protest” from 3.40pm on Friday, close to Middleton Road.

The police watchdog, the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC), is investigating the events leading to the death of Charles on Saturday.

A man lays flowers outside the Kingsland Road shop where Rashan Charles was chased and apprehended, shortly before his death
A man lays flowers outside the Kingsland Road shop where Rashan Charles was chased and apprehended, shortly before his death
PA Wire/PA Images

Unverified footage on social media appeared to show at least one police officer attempting to restrain him on the floor of a shop at 1.45am, close to where the protest is being held.

The 20-year-old later died in hospital.

The IPCC said in a statement on Friday: “We understand the concerns raised following Rashan’s death.

“We will independently examine the circumstances of this incident, we will follow the evidence, we will consider whether there is an indication there may have been misconduct or criminality, and we will seek to answer the questions that Rashan’s family and the community of Hackney understandably have.”

Charles’ father Esa is set to give a joint statement with Ginario Da Costa, the father of Edson Da Costa, outside Stoke Newington Police station today [Saturday], the Press Association reported.

Mr Da Costa died on June 21, six days after he was detained by police during a traffic stop.

Campaigners claim Mr Da Costa’s neck was broken and that he was “brutally beaten” after the car, containing three people, was halted in Woodcocks, Beckton.

His death is also being investigated by the IPCC, which has revealed an early pathology report shows he had “a number of packages in his throat” when he died.

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