The director of the Palestine Solidarity Campaign has been charged with public order offences following a pro-Palestinian rally on Saturday.
The Met Police said Benjamin Jamal, 61, was charged over offences including inciting people to fail to comply with conditions put in place by the force.
The rally was moved to Whitehall after police blocked plans by organisers to hold a march from Portland Place, near the headquarters of the BBC.
More than 70 arrests were made after dozens of demonstrators breached conditions by breaking through a police line and gathering in Trafalgar Square, the Met said.
On Monday, Jamila Zadran, 32, was also charged with assaulting an emergency worker while Luke Jacobs, 22, was charged with obstructing a police officer and criminal damage following the protest.
The charges come after former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn and MP John McDonnell urged the Met to release officer bodycam footage from Saturday’s protest before agreeing to be interviewed under caution by police.
The two London MPs both attended the protest, organised by the Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC), at which more than 75 people were arrested.
The Met said nine others were also charged over public order offences.
Mr Corbyn, 75, the MP for Islington North, and Mr McDonnell, 73, who represents Hayes and Harlington, were both interviewed under caution following the protest and attended a police station on Sunday. The Met said they were released pending further investigations.
In a statement, Mr Corbyn said the force’s description of events was “not accurate”.
He added: “I was part of a delegation of speakers, who wished to peacefully carry and lay flowers in memory of children in Gaza who had been killed.
“This was facilitated by the police. We did not force our way through. When we reached Trafalgar Square, we informed police that we would go no further, lay down flowers and disperse.
“At that point, the Chief Steward, Chris Nineham, was arrested. We then turned back and dispersed. I urge the police to release all bodycam footage and retract its misleading account of events.”
Mr McDonnell said: “We did not force our way [through], the police allowed us to go through and when stopped in Trafalgar Square we laid our flowers down and dispersed.”
He also called for police to release bodycam footage and accused officers of “violently” arresting a march steward “who was organising the presentation of the flowers”.
Both of the former Labour MPs sit as independents in the Commons.
The Metropolitan Police said three men, aged 75, 73 and 61, had agreed to attend voluntarily at a police station in central London to be interviewed under caution on Sunday afternoon.
Nine other people have been charged with public order offences following the protest.
The Metropolitan Police announced on Saturday that 77 people had been arrested – the highest number across more than 20 national PSC protests since October 2023.
Some 65 people were detained for a breach of conditions, five for public order offences, two for obstructing police, one for supporting a proscribed organisation, one for inciting racial hatred, one for common assault, one for assault on an emergency worker and one for sexual assault.
The force said on Sunday that 24 people have been bailed and 48 remain in custody.
Mr Corbyn’s brother Piers, 77, of Elephant and Castle, south-east London, has been charged with a public order offence.
The eight other people charged with public order offences are: Angela Zelter, 73, of Knighton, Powys; Tessa Roe-Stanton, 20, Starr Thomas, 20, Christian Adair, 23, all from Brockley, south-east London; Monday Rosenfeld, 21, of Limehouse, east London; Matthew Brennan, 44, of St George, Bristol; David Ok, 40, of Kilburn, north-west London; and Christopher Nineham, 62, of Bow, east London.
They will appear at Westminster Magistrates’ Court in the coming days, police said.
Commander Adam Slonecki said: “We saw a deliberate effort, including by protest organisers, to breach conditions and attempt to march out of Whitehall.
“This was a serious escalation in criminality and one which we are taking incredibly seriously. Officers have worked around the clock to pursue those involved.”
