Police battle violent protesters in East London

By Ahmet Gurhan Kartal

LONDON (AA) – Riot police responded late Sunday to a violent protest as demonstrators erected barricades and set fires to roads near the Forest Gate police station.

The disturbance followed a Black Lives Matter protest after the death of Edir Frederico Da Costa (Edson) six days after he was arrested by police.

Social media videos showed protesters who originally gathered at the nearby Stratford bus station clashing with police before the station was evacuated and closed.

Protesters demanded answers to questions surrounding Da Costa’s death and threw bricks at police while chanting “Justice for Edson!”

Da Costa, a 25-year-old black male, was in a car with two other people when it was stopped by police in the Newham area in East London.

Violent protests erupted in 2011 after Mark Duggan’s was fatally shot by police in Tottenham. Riots quickly spread across London and to other large cities and raged for five days, causing millions of pounds of damage from fires and looting.