While the government response to far-right street violence around the country in August has been to promise more resources for public order policing, it is impossible to characterise the shocking wave of racist and anti-migrant attacks as ‘protests’.
Instead, what we have seen is terrorised communities and numerous anti-fascist counter-demonstrations called to defend them. Community and anti-fascist groups have come together to defend homes, businesses and places of worship, sometimes…
Since last October, political speech and protest criticising the state of Israel has been policed ‘almost entirely as a potential “hate crime”’, according to a report published by Netpol at the end of May.
The testimony, evidence, statistics and media coverage gathered and analysed in In Our Millions reveals several other ‘worrying trends’ in the police response to recent Palestine solidarity protests in England and Wales, including evidence of racist and Islamophobic…
The best way to make sure your smartphone is secure at a protest is to leave it at home. But many people find it difficult to leave their phone at home – so what can you do to make your phone more secure when going on a protest?
To prevent the phone being seized during arrest and data on it being found:
Turn off your lock screen notifications, so messages aren’t visible as they come in. Clear chat histories / set disappearing messages in chats, or sign out of messaging apps…
The sudden appearance of a ‘National Security Act 2023’ warning sign outside the Bristol offices of Israeli-owned arms manufacturer Elbit was a reminder to campaigners that as well as expanding public order laws, the government has also introduced sweeping changes to espionage laws that cover places where protests regularly take place.
Although this legislation was presented as necessary to counter hostile threats from foreign intelligence services, Netpol warned in 2022 that new…
Long-time legal observer Lesley Wertheimer, 71, has complained to the Metropolitan police after officers pushed her to the ground from behind, leaving her unconscious, with cuts to her cheek and a sprained knee, the Observer reported on 3 March.
Amateur video shows the police knocking Lesley, who was wearing a hi-vis ‘legal observer’ vest, onto the road, face-first, during a Gaza march on 6 January.
The policing of the major Gaza ceasefire marches in London has been aggressive, hostile and ‘politicised’.
That was the charge put to the Metropolitan police in a letter on 22 January from the organisers of the national marches for Palestine in London.
The organisers are: Palestine Solidarity Campaign, Friends of Al-Aqsa, Stop the War Coalition, Muslim Association of Britain, Palestinian Forum in Britain and the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND).
The organising…
On 28 October, the United Families & Friends Campaign held its annual march from Trafalgar Square to Downing Street in Central London, delivering a list of unexplained deaths in the custody of the state. The march took place just before a massive Gaza solidarity march, where BLM (Black Lives Matter) UK formed part of a bloc remembering those who have died in state custody.
Green and Black Cross and Activist Court Aid Brigade have produced a very useful guide to restrictions on protest in the Public Order Act 2023.
They say they will update the guide as more sections actually come into force (when they have been ‘commenced’ in parliament):
www.tinyurl.com/peacenews4141
In September, London’s Metropolitan police apologised and paid out ‘substantial’ damages to Dania Al-Obeid and Patsy Stevenson, who were arrested at the 13 March 2021 vigil on Clapham Common in memory of Sarah Everard.
Also in September, the Met finally apologised and agreed to pay a six-figure sum to Alfie Meadows, who was left with severe brain damage after being hit by an officer’s baton during a student protest in 2010, when he was 20. Police had charged him with violent disorder…
The Metropolitan police took ‘swift’ action on 6 May to shut down protests at the coronation of king Charles, in a series of arrests that showed how little the idea of ‘policing by consent’ now means in practice.
In a classic example of why negotiating with police is fraught with risk, weeks of ‘dialogue’ in advance of the coronation by the campaign group Republic failed to prevent the immediate arrests of several of its members who were accused of having equipment used to lock-on. [‘…
SoulsINQUEST is a photographic exhibition created by photographer Sarah Booker with 17 families bereaved by deaths in police contact, prisons, mental health and care units, in collaboration with the charity INQUEST, curated by Languid Hands. SoulsINQUEST uses photography and writing as a lens onto state violence, death, grief and resistance. The exhibition took place on Brixton’s Railton Road, a historic centre of resistance to state violence and racism, at the gallery of 198 Contemporary…
Three days ahead of the coronation of Charles III, the new Public Order Bill, with many restrictions on the right to protest, became law. The anti-monarchist campaign, Republic, and other groups, including Extinction Rebellion, were sent a letter by the home office warning that these new powers had been brought forward to prevent ‘disruption at major sporting and cultural events’.
Describing the letter as intimidatory, Republic announced that it would not be deterred from protesting…
As PN went to press, the Public Order bill was on its way to becoming law.
While the House of Lords did make some changes to this repressive legislation, the bill as a whole remains a ‘staggering escalation of the government’s clampdown on protest’.
That was the description given at the end of January in a joint parliamentary briefing from Amnesty International UK, Liberty, Big Brother Watch, Greenpeace, the Black Equity Organisation, Netpol (the Network for Police…
On 23 November, a review found that the arrest of four journalists covering climate protests on the M25 was ‘potentially unlawful’.
Documentary filmmaker Rich Felgate and photographer Tom Bowles were arrested on 7 November. LBC reporter Charlotte Lynch was arrested the following day. All three had offered their press cards. (One other, unnamed journalist was also arrested)
The review by Cambridgeshire police found that the arrests (by Hertfordshire police) were not…
On 16 December, three more people were jailed in connection with the ‘Kill the Bill’ clashes in Bristol in early 2021, bringing the total in prison to 26.
Earlier, on 18 November, it was reported that Avon & Somerset police had paid undisclosed damages to five people who say they were assaulted by the police during the ‘Kill the Bill’ demonstration in Bristol on 23 March 2021.
The incidents took place on College Green after a day of peaceful protest against the Police,…
