A demonstration was planned for the 13th of the month. Its pretext was to demand the release of Irish MP William O’Brien from prison, but the grievances expressed by the protestors extended far beyond this particular cause célèbre. Over forty thousand men and women gathered to make their point. They were greeted by two thousand police, as well as the Queen’s Life Guard and the Grenadier Guards. The clashes began almost immediately and the police fell on the protestors with their truncheons. Despite pleas for a peaceful demonstration, many of the participants had come equipped with lead pipes,
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