Protestors interrupted an event in London to attempt a citizen’s arrest of London Mayor Sadiq Khan on Saturday, in response to the mayor’s criticism of Donald Trump. The group of men brought gallows and placed it on the street outside where the mayor was set to give a speech. The gallows had “TAKE BACK CONTROL” written on it.
The group was led by David Russel, a member of a far-right political group called the English Defense League and also a host of an anti-Islamic radio show. They interrupted the event before Khan’s speech. Khan is London’s first Muslim mayor.
Russel and the others entered the event and walked right up to the foot of the stage with Russel live streaming the entire time. “Ladies and gentlemen, we are here today to make a peaceful, nonviolent citizen’s arrest of those named,” one of the men said. He then listed Khan, British Parliament member Kate Green, and the names of two other event speakers. One of the men also approached Khan while holding an American flag. “Mr. Khan” he said, “there’s millions of British people supporting Donald Trump.”
A guard tried to get the men to leave, but Russell maintained that he could not be touched by him. He also said that he had called the police before the event and told the audience that officers would soon arrive to arrest Khan. But when officers arrived, they told Russel that he and his associates would have to leave. “We don’t do citizen’s arrests. We do lawful arrests,” an officer said.
Khan and President Trump have had public disagreements in the past. Trump criticized Khan for his reaction to a terrorist attack in London last year. Khan would later call for Trump’s visit to the U.K. to be cancelled after he retweeted anti-Islamic videos. President Trump announced this week that he was cancelling the visit over decisions made by the Obama administration about the U.S. embassy building in London. Khan responded by saying that Trump had “got the message” that he wasn’t welcome there.