London: Protesters hit HQ of ITN broadcaster

Dozens of protesters broke into the television broadcasting offices of ITN in London and verbally abused journalists, after the group apparently split from a larger march against coronavirus vaccine passports.

The offices, used by news teams of ITV, Channel 4 and Channel 5, remained locked down until police stabilized the situation and removed protesters.

What did protesters do?

A small group of protesters broke off from a march in central London and forced their way into the broadcasting headquarters at Grays Inn Road in Camden.

Some of them verbally abused Jon Snow, Channel 4 news anchor since 1989, as the veteran television presenter entered the building.

A video on social media showed what appeared to be a list of demands being made to the company. Among other things, the protesters called for their representatives to be included in debates on "all aspects" of the coronavirus. They have also threatened to come back next week if their demands are not met.

Various journalists were "prevented from being able to go about their newsgathering activities" because of the protest, said an ITN spokeswoman.

How did authorities react?

London's Metropolitan Police were quickly on the scene "engaging with building security and removing those who have gained entry," a police spokesperson said.

"ITN staff including those working in ITV News, Channel 4 News and 5 News have been advised to either stay in the building or stay away while the situation is being dealt with," she said.

"The abuse of journalists because of their reporting on coronavirus is a worrying development which ITN has been closely monitoring and actively ensuring staff are aware of precautions to avoid coming to any harm," she added.

The protest follows the storming of BBC offices for similar reasons two weeks ago.

Demonstrators have clashed with police around Europe as governments step up restrictions on the unvaccinated in order to curtail the spread of the delta variant.

jc/dj (AFP,dpa)