Up to 150,000 people protesting against immigration have marched through the United Kingdom’s capital, London, on Saturday local time, in one of the country’s biggest right-wing demonstrations, with some protesters clashing with the police and wounding at least 26 officers. Tech billionaire Elon Musk also voiced support via videolink, according to multiple media reports.
The rally, organized by British far-right activist Tommy Robinson, saw up to 150,000 people march through central London, according to BBC, and twenty-six officers have been injured while policing the protest.
Tensions flared at the Unite the Kingdom rally, with some protesters throwing bottles and other projectiles at police, the Metropolitan Police said, per BBC.
Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood condemned “those who have attacked and injured police officers”.
“Anyone taking part in criminal activity will face the full force of the law,” she added, per BBC.
The scale of the protest vastly outgrew police estimates resulting in tense and at times violent clashes between protesters and police, the Guardian said. The killing of Charlie Kirk is being used by Tommy Robinson to mobilize support.
Experts noted that the rally was linked both to the death of American political activist Charlie Kirk and to the rise of right-wing populist movements in the UK, US and across Europe, reflecting deepening polarization.
The protest was primarily fueled and organized online by Robinson, whose far-right positions focus on anti-immigration and opposition to political correctness, Li Guanjie, a research fellow with the Shanghai Academy of Global Governance and Area Studies under the Shanghai International Studies University, told the Global Times on Sunday.
Li further observed that right-wing and far-right groups in the UK are using Kirk’s death as a rallying point to confront left-wing movements, warning that this trend could spread beyond the UK and US to other countries with close historical ties.
Feng Zhongping, director of the Institute of European Studies at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, also told the Global Times on Sunday that political fragmentation in Western societies, coupled with economic difficulties and disputes over immigration, has created fertile ground for extremism. “This fragmentation undermines stable governance, making it easier for extreme forces to rise,” Feng said.
The Guardian also linked Robinson’s rally and Kirk’s assassination to the amplifying power of social media platforms. John Harris, a columnist for the paper, argued that short-video platforms have triggered “a complete upending of the online world.” Instead of light-hearted personal content, he wrote, users are increasingly fed “a diet of violence, prejudice, damage and social unrest,” which is warping public understanding and rapidly reshaping politics.
Before his murder, Charlie Kirk had amassed more than seven million followers on short-video platforms, and his assassination was described by one US writer as “an influencer shot to death at a school in front of a crowd of smartphones.” Harris added that Saturday’s rally in London – mobilized online by Robinson and even featuring Elon Musk’s appearance via the internet – was a striking example of how digital platforms now set the “mood music” for countries’ rightward shift.
UK business and trade secretary Peter Kyle was asked by Sky News’ Trevor Phillips on Sunday morning if the demonstration “disturbed” him. “The bit that disturbs me is that when a minority go to an extreme and end up perpetrating violence against the police. That is unacceptable and those people should and will pay for it,” he said.
Tech billionaire Elon Musk spoke to protesters on Whitehall via videolink, while 5,000 people joined a nearby counter-protest organized by “Stand Up To Racism,” the BBC said.
Making a surprise appearance via videolink, Musk spoke about “massive uncontrolled migration” and called for a “change of government” in the UK. “Something’s got to be done,” Musk said, as he was interviewed by Robinson. “There’s got to be a dissolution of Parliament and a new vote held,” Musk said, according to BBC.
This is not the first time Musk has involved himself in British politics, according to The Guardian.
“Whether you choose violence or not, violence is coming to you. You either fight back or you die, that’s the truth, I think,” he said. Musk also told the crowd “the left are the party of murder”, referring to the death of Charlie Kirk.
Robinson amplified these messages on his X account, livestreaming the rally and reposting multiple tweets directly from Musk or other reposts. In one exchange highlighted by Joe Rogan Podcast News, Musk said: “Our friend Charlie Kirk getting murdered in cold blood this week, and people on the left celebrating it openly. The left is the party of murder. You see how much violence there’s on the left.”
Robinson also reposted claims that demonstrators were chanting “Charlie! Charlie! Charlie!” in Kirk’s memory.
Another widely circulated post showed Musk’s remarks on immigration: “There’s a massive incentive on the left to import voters. So if they can’t convince their nation to vote for them, they’re going to import people from other nations to vote for them. It’s a strategy that will succeed if it is not stopped.” Musk endorsed the post with a 100-score emoji.
Experts noted that new media platforms are empowering more extreme grassroots groups to organize events and rally supporters.
“Compared with politicians like Nigel Farage, Robinson relies less on party mechanisms and more on social media to mobilize and spread his message, making his activism more direct and incendiary,” Feng said.
The Met said 25 people had been arrested for a range of offences in what it described as “wholly unacceptable” violence.
The French far-right politician Éric Zemmour was also invited to speak. He told protesters they were subject to “the great replacement of our European people by peoples coming from the south and of Muslim culture”, adding that “you and we are being colonised by our former colonie,” The Guardian reported.
Shortly before 1 pm local time, people began marching across Westminster Bridge. The crowd, which was largely white, broke into chants of “Tommy”, “Whose street? Our street” and “England”. Some also held signs in support of Tommy Robinson.
Robinson, whose real name is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, addressed the crowds at the rally where he criticized politicians for “parroting” his ideas.
He also claimed UK courts had decided the rights of undocumented migrants superseded those of the “local community”.
Last month, the Court of Appeal overturned an injunction blocking asylum seekers being housed at The Bell Hotel in Epping, Essex.