Shouting “USA — terrorist state!” protesters carried anti-American signs and made speeches denouncing the United States, the London Telegraph reported.
“You will always face suffering, you will always face humiliation, unless you withdraw your troops from Muslim lands,” one protester said.
Another declared that America had been “defeated in Iraq and defeated in Afghanistan.”
According to the Telegraph, members of the radical Islamic group Muslims Against Crusades were among those taking part in the demonstration. The group has performed similar public stunts in the past.
A small group of opposing Muslims launched their own counter protest nearby in an attempt to drown out the radicals, including one man who said he’d traveled hundreds of miles to be there.
The counter-demonstrators held signs that said, “Muslims Against Extremism” and “If You Want Sharia, Move To Saudi.”
“I’m a Muslim. What they’re doing is bringing shame on all Muslims. This is not part of the teachings of Islam,” Abdul Sallam, 41, told The Telegraph. “If the moderate Muslims all came out and spoke out, that would defeat them.”
The protests occurred before the start of a ceremony for the British victims of 9/11. Prime Minister David Cameron, Prince Charles and the U.S. ambassador to the U.K. were among those in attendance.
A man attending a 9/11 memorial service, whose cousin died in the attacks, said the protesters should be stopped from standing across the the street from the embassy and using a megaphone.
“They shouldn’t be allowed to do it. It’s very disrespectful. It’s too loud,” he said. “They can say what they want but not with the loudspeaker.”
Earlier, another group of protesters from the English Defense League, a group that opposes the spread of Islamic extremism and Shariah law in England, had staged their own demonstration and were told to move to accommodate the second protest. According to the Telegraph, the 60 members scuffled briefly with police before they were ordered to move to a different part of the square.
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