While Guetta claims that he was attacked by the protesters, the Justice Ministry said that it would probe the incident, which was caught on film as a group of around 800 protesters marched from the Chords Bridge at the entrance of Jerusalem to the Prime Minister's Residence at the corner of Balfour Street.Guetta's commander, Zion District Police chief Ofer Shumer, said that the protesters who marched cursed policemen along the way and used their private names. "The protesters incite against us, use our private names and threaten to settle accounts with us," Shumer said at a briefing after the protest. In an interview Sunday morning on Army Radio, he accused the protesters of racism. When asked what was racist, he said that some of the protesters "present themselves as masters of the land, as if they will tell us what to do and determine what will be with our jobs. That is a form of racism."המחלקה לחקירות שוטרים פתחה בחקירת המקרה שתועד אמש בהפגנה בירושלים של תקיפת מפגינים ע"י קצין משטרה בדרגת סנ"צ, הבדיקה נפתחה מיד עם היוודע המקרה.
— משרד המשפטים (@JusticeGov) August 23, 2020
The protest on Saturday night – attended by over 10,000 protesters – was the most violent since the weekly demonstrations started a few months ago. Some 20 protesters were detained by the Police, which said that several officers were injured. Additionally, throughout the night, police removed hundreds of protesters in trucks. “All I did was stand there and then police would come and shove me,” one protester recalled on Sunday. “There were police in uniform as well as police undercover who were blending in among the protesters.”Some protesters joined a march that began by the Chords Bridge at the entrance to Jerusalem and moved all the way to Paris Square at the corner of Balfour Street. Police suggested a smaller, alternate route, but organizers refused.The Police claimed it had refused the request because the path of the march disturbed “the fabric of everyday life” for those living in the region.Demonstrators nevertheless began their procession “in violation of police instructions,” according to Israel Police. “Police forces are working at the scene to prevent traffic jams,” the Police Spokesperson’s Unit explained, referring to their attempts to break up the march.Police clashed with protesters after creating a barricade to stop the march. Protesters attempted to walk around it, only to meet with police officers.Once the demonstrators reached Balfour Street to unite with the other protesters, however, police had formed a human barricade, effectively blocking those in Paris Square and across from the Prime Minister’s Residence from exiting the area and preventing those who had marched from the Chords Bridge from entering. Water cannons stood at the ready along the barricade as protesters grew restless.וואו איזה תיעוד של אלימות מצד סגן ניצב, ככל הנראה הערב בירושלים במהלך התהלוכה פה.קרדיט לא ידוע וגם לא ברור מה הרקע להתנהגות הזאת, מחכה לתגובה מהמשטרה אבל על פניו מעצר אלים מאוד. pic.twitter.com/kv0golqyGP
— Josh Breiner (@JoshBreiner) August 22, 2020