The protest was policed by 10 riot vans, one witness said. Demonstrators set fire to a "hipster police" mannequin and dumped it in a bin on the Old Street roundabout.
A woman who lives above the café told the Standard: “I just heard loads of loud music, which isn’t out of the ordinary for Brick Lane, but it didn’t seem to pass.
“Then I looked out of the window to see men in pig masks with flame torches. There were about 50 people. I heard lots of smashing and then they left. Now there are helicopters and fireworks everywhere.”
A statement on the group’s website reads: “We don’t want luxury flats that no one can afford, we want genuinely affordable housing. We don’t want pop-up gin bars or brioche buns – we want community.
“Soon this city will be an unrecognisable, bland, yuppie-infested wasteland with no room for normal (and not so normal) people like us.
“London is our home and worth defending against this onslaught of dog-eat-dog economics. Working class people are being forced out of our homes but we won’t go out without a fight.”
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en">
<p dir="ltr" lang="en">Tonight we were attacked with paint and fire by an angry mob of 200. Riot police are on the scene. <a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://t.co/GPXLmyMmuN" class="body-link" data-vars-item-name="BL-2956481-http://t.co/GPXLmyMmuN" data-vars-event-id="c23">pic.twitter.com/GPXLmyMmuN</a>
— Cereal Killer Cafe (@CerealKillerUK) <a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="https://twitter.com/CerealKillerUK/status/647867809922478080" class="body-link" data-vars-item-name="BL-2956481-https://twitter.com/CerealKillerUK/status/647867809922478080" data-vars-event-id="c23">September 26, 2015</a>
A Twitter account that appeared to be live-tweeting the protest shared a picture of the café with the words: “Cereal cafe. £5 for cereal when people are starving. F*** gentrification.
“F*** cutesy boutiques and coffee shops. Homes for everyone.”
Twins Alan and Gary Keery opened Cereal Killer in Brick Lane last November. Anti-poverty campaigners estimate the average annual wage in Tower Hamlets, the cafe's neighbourhood, is just £11,400 a year.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en">
<p dir="ltr" lang="en">Due to an impromptu demo, Old Street Roundabout is currently blocked. Expect delays on all approaches. <a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://t.co/qyRszSWJ68" class="body-link" data-vars-item-name="BL-2956481-http://t.co/qyRszSWJ68" data-vars-event-id="c23">pic.twitter.com/qyRszSWJ68</a>
— TfL Traffic News (@TfLTrafficNews) <a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="https://twitter.com/TfLTrafficNews/status/647887389201973248" class="body-link" data-vars-item-name="BL-2956481-https://twitter.com/TfLTrafficNews/status/647887389201973248" data-vars-event-id="c23">September 26, 2015</a>
One protester, who asked not to be named, told the Standard: "We're out tonight to reclaim the streets against gentrification, homelessness, evictions and the social cleansing of London.
"We're out in our hundreds, and having a big f***ing party at the same time."
