SUPPORTERS of Donald Trump and jailed far-right leader Tommy Robinson were yesterday met by a heavy police presence as Scotland Yard feared violence.
The march to Downing Street was kept at a distance from a counter-protest in Parliament Square on Saturday, the day after an estimated 100,000-plus rallied through London in opposition to the US president.
The march focused on the jailed 35-year-old, real name Stephen Christopher Yaxley-Lennon, who was sent down for 13 months for contempt of court after filming people involved in a criminal trial and broadcasting the footage on social media.
Lennon's legal costs as well as the costs of the demonstration are being met by a far-right US organisation, the Middle East Forum. The director, Gregg Roman. would not disclose the legal costs, telling the Sunday Herald that MEF had spent "four to five million dollars" on supporting "freedom of speech issues" throughout the world.
He described the jailing of Robinson as a "misapplication of justice" and an "unfair system" and that the public's right to know superseded that of the court's strictures on protecting the identities of the defendants, all of whom were Muslim.
Demonstrators on the march waved "Britain Loves Trump" placards, some waring Trump's red "Make America Great Again" caps and cheered at mentions of the US leader.
The Metropolitan Police banned marchers from leaving from the US Embassy after "serious violence" at a similar march on June 9 resulted in five officers being injured. That march was also funded by the MEF.
A small group on Saturday breached the order by starting at the embassy, pictures on social media showed. Images also showed minor clashes between supporters and opponents in Parliament Square, and officers at the scene said cordons had been bolstered after breaches from the right-wing group.
A Met Police spokeswoman said: "One man and one woman have been arrested on suspicion of public order offences. Both have been taken to a central London police station."
One was arrested in Nine Elms Lane, near the US Embassy, and the other was in Whitehall, another spokeswoman added.
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