London, June 2 (RC)-- Clashes erupted in central London on after a largely peaceful Black Lives Matter protest.  Tension escalated as police tried to clear a junction in Parliament Square blocked by protesters.

A number of people were seen being arrested and put into police vans.  The Metropolitan Police Service said 23 people had been arrested in relation to the protests.

One protester, who chose to remain nameless, said the demonstrators had been protesting peacefully and criticized the actions of the police.

"We came out here peacefully to protest the injustice in the UK, it's now a global issue with the murder of George Floyd, everything that's going on in the world," the protester said.  "The police came and they made it violent.  They came and antagonised us, we were protesting peacefully."