British Police Arrest 19 at London Protest Against Social Distancing

British Police Arrest 19 at London Protest Against Social Distancing
People hold up banners and a union jack flag in protest against lockdown and vaccination in Hyde Park, following the outbreak of COVID-19, London, Britain, on May 16, 2020. John Sibley/Reuters
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LONDON—London police arrested 19 people on May 16 for deliberately breaking social distancing guidelines in protest against the rules, on the first weekend since Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced a slight loosening of England’s lockdown.

The Metropolitan Police said that a group in central London’s Hyde Park had been protesting about the government’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic, and had failed to comply with repeated requests to disperse.