On Wednesday night, police responding to a street party in Brixton, south London were chased out of the area, with officers and their vehicles attacked by revellers.Footage posted on Snapchat and Twitter shows police attempting to break up the party, where social distancing guidelines were being flouted, before people begin to hurl bottles and other objects at them.
Before long, officers begin to retreat, and party attendees chase after them, smashing in the windows of a police van. Footage also shows a police car's front window being stomped in, and fights breaking out among attendees. Home Secretary Priti Patel tweeted of the footage, "These are utterly vile scenes."This morning, Scotland Yard said 22 officers had been injured, with two hospitalised by members of the "hostile" crowd. Four people have been arrested for assault and public order offences.Brixton wasn't the only place where police were called in to break up a party; in Brighton, on the hottest day of the year so far, ten police vehicles were called to Hove Lawns, where hundreds of teenagers and young people had gathered to drink and take laughing gas.An eyewitness told the Argus: "Al the kids are walking around shouting at police – it's like football chants. All the police have pulled up and are walking along, trying to get them to move."