This is the dramatic moment police tackled a demonstrator to the ground as he appeared to try and run towards Emmanuel Macron‘s motorcade in London this afternoon.
The man is thought to have tried to run after the President’s car convoy during his high-profile visit to the capital today, as part of a protest against ‘French interference’ in Cameroon’s domestic affairs.
Footage shows officers chasing after and stopping a man who can be heard shouting as Mr Macron’s vehicle, escorted by police, drives along The Mall.
It comes just 24 hours after an elderly Kurdish protester came within touching distance of Boris Johnson‘s Jaguar having initially evaded police near the Houses of Parliament, before he was finally tackled to the floor by a female officer.
Police restrain a demonstrator on the floor who appeared to run after Emmanuel Macron’s car convoy
The incident is believed to be part of a protest against ‘French interference’ in Cameroon domestic affairs
Emmanuel Macron was in London this afternoon to watch the Red Arrows and La Patrouille de France perform a flypast
Today, witnesses said around 20 protesters were shouting about Mr Macron in both French and English before one appeared to make his way towards the motorcade.
As the man is pinned to the floor, officers can be heard telling others in the vicinity to ‘move back’, before lifting him up by his arms and moving him away from the road.
At this point, other protesters in the background appear to be saying ‘don’t kill him’.
A Met Police spokesman said: ‘During the visit of President Macron on Thursday, 18 June, police facilitated a protest in Richmond Terrace and Horseguards Avenue.
‘At around 5.10pm a man was detained by police in order to prevent a breach of the peace. Once the president’s convoy had cleared the area, the man was de-arrested.
‘There were no injuries, and no interference to the convoy.’
Yesterday, an activist from a group demonstrating outside Parliament’s gates in Westminster ran towards Mr Johnson’s Jaguar XJ Portfolio V8 LWB Auto as his convoy left following Prime Minister’s Questions.
Video footage showed how the middle-aged man managed to break through a group of police at the last minute as the car drove out – and was only brought down at the very last minute by an unarmed female officer.
A nearby CCTV camera captured the protester running into the road, stopping in front of a police motorbike in front of the Prime minister’s vehicle and then being dragged away.
A protester, seemingly running towards Emmanuel Macron’s motorcade, pictured left, is stopped by police, pictured right
The protester is tackled to the ground, pictured left, as officers try to hold back other demonstrators, pictured right
Protesters against ‘French interference’ in Cameroon outside Downing Street this afternoon
A demonstrator, dressed in the colours of Cameroon, raises her arm in the air while speaking through a megaphone
The lead car was forced to stop, with an escorting Range Rover running into the back of it in what appeared to be a minor collision. The vehicles then drove off, with a dent visible in the back of Mr Johnson’s £54,000 car.
The protester, who had been demonstrating about Turkey’s operation against Kurdish rebels in northern Iraq, was taken into the Palace of Westminster by Metropolitan Police officers in the immediate aftermath.
Mr Macron was in London today commemorate his predecessor General de Gaulle’s famous speech which was broadcast by the BBC from London on June 18, 1940.
The French premier met Prince Charles at Buckingham Palace as well as Prime Minister Boris Johnson, with whom he watched red, white and blue smoke streak across the skies – colours of the two countries’ flags – courtesy of The Red Arrows and their equivalent, the Patrouille de France.
Cameroon, in western Africa, and its predominately English-speaking Northwest and Southwest regions, has been rocked by unrest in recent years after an uprising has seen 3,000 people killed in violence between armed separatists and government forces.
Mr Macron has since faced growing pressure to increase French involvement in the country, where he said in February ‘intolerable human rights violations’ were taking place, a week after 22 people were killed by gunmen in military fatigues in a village.