The death of Sarah Everard caused an outburst of anger, fear and concern for women’s safety. On Saturday 13 March, a vigil took place at Clapham Common, in London near to where Ms Everard was last seen walking home. However Covid-19 regulations banned large gatherings, leading to a violent reaction from the Metropolitan Police. Reports say actions from the Police were ‘proportionate’, but to what extent?
After the death of Ms Everard, campaigns and debate took over, as women opened up about their experiences of sexual harassment and abuse in the streets. Reclaim the Night organised a Vigil for Women’s Safety at Clapham Common. Despite the High Court judgement refusing to grant permission for any campaign to take place, thousands of people joined on Saturday 13th for what turned into a contentious event.
Recent Protests
The focus of women’s safety and the heart of the demonstration became undermined, as police used restraints, arrests and generally handled the situation abruptly. The police were already under pressure to the arrest of Waine Couzens. The serving PCO is currently on trial for the kidnap and murder of Ms Everard, as well as recent reports of indecent exposure; distrust of the police was already high.
We only have to look back one year, to the protests regarding the death of George Floyd in the US. The global campaign saw many protests alike across England. Is there a comparable disparity in how these lockdown protests ended? A positive result is yet to be seen.
The relationship between authority and publicans continues to weaken with only a matter of time before it becomes an uncontrollable rebellion.
Kill the Bill
Demonstrations against police brutality, in angry crowds, have become a problem in the UK. London, Bristol, Liverpool and other areas of the UK have seen vast crowds of moving demonstrations. Highly influential people also make comment and Jeremy Corbyn, Labour MP supported this in a tweet.
We will always defend the right to demonstrate against injustice. Proud to address today's #KillTheBill demonstration – together we will stop Boris Johnson's protest ban pic.twitter.com/R3TTzy1NlY
— Jeremy Corbyn (@jeremycorbyn) April 3, 2021
Trending Twitter hashtags ‘#killthebill’ and ‘#protestuk’ show police officers using pepper spray and extreme tactics to ‘scare’ off protestors. Members of the public are being forced to remove face coverings, coughing. The NEU wrote a statement to the ‘gross mishandling’.
“The scenes last night should not have been necessary. They were extremely disturbing, and the Metropolitan Police will need to account for their behaviour and the distress that it has heaped on the tragic murder of Sarah Everard,” said Dr Mary Bousted and Kevin Courtney, Joint General Secretaries of the National Education Union.
Corresponding reports defend the police and say the way they handled the events in memory of Ms Everard remained acceptable and appropriate. The Assistant Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police, Helen Ball said that the fact that “hundreds of people were packed tightly together” meant that the police actions taken were necessary.
The Law
Protests let people come together, to express feelings, and often urge change. However, the pandemic restrictions in England are causing issues between what is traditionally lawful and what is not. Under the ECHR (European Convention on Human Rights), Article 11, the ‘Freedom of Assembly and Association in ‘normal’ circumstances allows all gatherings, including demonstrations.
The Human Rights Act and the common law in the UK protect freedom of speech and our rights to peaceful protests. However, Covid-19 legislation passed in 2020 prevents this; large groups, or in fact any groups, cannot assemble. Throughout the pandemic, the perplexing rules have proved confusing. The Metropolitan police say that laws against mass gatherings should ban protests too. This is understandably something authority will want to follow, because it puts the risk of people flouting rules much higher. However, it doesn’t excuse their every attempt to scare and mistreat members of the public.
The Future of Protests
The heightened issue surrounding police brutality and abuse could change the future of public protests, thereby having an impact on matters in years to come.
In reflection of past weeks, protests have become a conflict of power, and a balance of ‘free speech’ vs the appropriate level of unrest the authorities are willing to tolerate. Understandably, protestors will always have a level of anger whilst campaigning against an societal issue but police provocation makes it worse. The suitability of the use of harmful substances and hurtful action in response to protest monitoring is in need of review. In sizeable crowds, is it fair to single out individuals who are in the ‘wrong place’ – and what procedures are used to make these judgements?
To ensure the future of democratic protest, I hope the government, or the Metropolitan Police, will stand up and apologise for the mishandling of the peaceful protest on the night of March 13. I also hope the future of protests will remain available as an expression for the general public to use to fight injustice within society. Freedom of speech makes society a democracy. If not, we’re simply under dictatorship.
Heather Davey
Featured image courtesy of James Eades via Unsplash. Image license found here. No changes were made to this image.
