Seven Arrested as Fireworks Hit Police in Glasgow

Seven people were arrested in Scotland on Friday, November 6, following a wave of disorder that saw police and ambulance crews attacked with fireworks.

The incidents occurred during Bonfire Night, which Police Scotland labeled its largest operational deployment since the official visit of Donald Trump last year. The force activated Operation Amberlight to manage the disorder across the country.

The most serious incident took place in Glasgow on Greenside Street shortly before 8 p.m. Police and an ambulance responded to a report of an injured man. While on the scene, both crews were targeted with fireworks. The attack caused one police officer and one ambulance staff member to sustain minor injuries. A police vehicle was set alight and seriously damaged.

A Police Scotland spokesperson confirmed that specialist resources were deployed to the Greenside Street scene, where one male was arrested. The force stated that inquiries are ongoing and that officers maintain a presence in the area.

Disorder was not limited to Glasgow. In Edinburgh, firefighters were forced to withdraw from a scene in the south of the city after facing anti-social behavior while attending to bin fires. In the Oxgangs and Colinton Mains areas, groups of young people knocked over bins and set them on fire in the road around 5:30 p.m. on Thursday, November 5. Locals reported that the youths launched fireworks at emergency services responding to the scene.

Fireworks were also thrown at members of the public in Clydebank. Attacks on fire crews were reported in the Knightswood and Castlemilk areas of Glasgow, as well as in Cumnock in Ayrshire, Larkhall in South Lanarkshire, and Blackridge in West Lothian. One unnamed resident in Edinburgh described the scene, saying, “They’re setting fire in the park and shooting fireworks at the police and firemen.”

Police Scotland called in assistance from forces in England and Wales to support the operation. The agency noted that no injuries were reported during the earlier incident on Oxgangs Road North, despite fireworks being set off in the direction of attending officers.