The Met posted additional officers to the area and the atmosphere turned acrimonious Wednesday afternoon as mounted officers and security personnel tried to disperse the crowd.
The Met’s City of Westminster Police Twitter account said officers had “responded to a disturbance within the group of people outside the Microsoft Store and not to a report of looting of people”, adding that ” there were no reports of people trying to enter the store.” .”
A total of seven people were arrested at the scene, with a further two detained by police in Essex in the early afternoon over social media posts.
In a statement, the force said: “During Wednesday 9 August, officers maintained a high visibility presence within the Oxford Street area. At 20:15, the agents have issued dispersal orders to 34 people and have made nine arrests.
“Four people were arrested on suspicion of violating the dispersal order, one person was arrested on suspicion of being equipped to steal, one person was arrested on suspicion of assaulting a police officer and one person was arrested on suspicion of order offence. public”.
A dispersal order has been put in place from 11am Tuesday to 10am Thursday, giving police the power to bar people from the area for 48 hours. Anyone who does not comply can be arrested.
