53 people were arrested during an anti-capitalist demonstration known as the Million Mask March in London on Saturday night, the Metropolitan police have said.
Protesters in London wore Guy Fawkes masks at the London march from the Trafalgar Square to the House of Parliament in Westminster, for the annual event which mirrors anti-capitalist demonstrations taking place worldwide on 5 November.
Police said that while the protest was mostly peaceful, there were "pockets of disorder," and fireworks were let off. Nobody was injured during the event.
Offenses for which people were arrested included obstruction, possession of an offensive weapon, public order and drugs. Any resulting charges are yet to be announced.
Ahead of the event, police placed strict conditions on the event, limiting its route, and timings. The march took place between 6pm and 8pm. Motor vehicles were also prohibited from the procession.
The Met’s public order command Commander BJ Harrington praised the officers "policing this challenging event," but also took the opportunity to wished the thank the many marchers who acted peacefully on Saturday evening.
"I would also like to thank those participants who conducted themselves in a peaceful manner as well as Londoners and those visiting our city for their patience and tolerance," Harrington said in a statement.
“On this occasion although the organisers did not engage with police, the majority of protesters did adhere to the conditions imposed. Only a small minority chose to breach the conditions and engage in criminality.”
The march is organised by global activist group Anonymous.
In an editorial for the Huffington Post ahead of the event, one member of the group wrote: "I am not a thug, I am a mother and a community worker. I will march because I know mankind can do so much better than we do."
"I will march for people to have a quality of life beyond work, to save my kids from crippling debt for just an education, for the tens of thousands of sick and disabled who have died in the name of austerity, for those thousands now facing extreme poverty and homelessness, for those we have destroyed and displaced by meaningless yet profitable wars, for our beautiful planet raped for its resources and dying in front of our eyes, for our NHS, for justice, information and freedom for all and mostly for me: for this is my one life and everything about it is so wrong at the moment. In my heart I know we can do so much better," she continued.
Around 1,000 people are estimated to have attended Saturday night's demonstration, according to the London Evening Standard.