Don’t take selfies near Grenfell Tower, Notting Hill Carnival-goers are warned
Visitors told to show respect by police, as they prepare for possible terrorist attack at festival
‘We appeal to people’s humanity… We want people to move through the area so it doesn’t become a circus’
THE two million people attending the Notting Hill Carnival this Bank Holiday weekend have been told by police not to take “selfies” near Grenfell Tower.
Amid concerns that anger over the tragedy could spill over into violence, senior officers appealed to people’s “humanity and discretion” to prevent a “circus” near the site where at least 80 people lost their lives.
With Metropolitan Police facing unprecedented security challenges at this year’s west London festival, officers yesterday revealed how a ring of steel was in place along the procession route to try to prevent a terrorist attack.
Steel barriers and a daytime ban on cars have been set up following the Barcelona, London Bridge and Westminster Bridge terror attacks.
Officers guarding the perimeter will also have specialist kits to check water bottles are not being used to conceal the weapon of choice in a spate of recent attacks. Many float organisers have provided performers with protective gloves and specially adapted bottles to shower a victim with water to wash off corrosive substances.
Police will also use facial recognition software and “super recognisers” – officers with an ability to spot criminals in a crowd – to monitor the event.
However, lingering anger about the inferno at the North Kensington tower block remains a key concern.
Chief Superintendent Robyn Williams, force spokesman on the carnival, said she had visited relatives of those who died and survivors to discuss the best way to deal with how the procession passes the charred remains of the flats that dominate the local skyline.
“The community don’t want people who are not resident to be casually passing through and taking photos or posing for selfies,” she said.
“We will appeal to people’s humanity and discretion. We want people to move through the area surrounding Grenfell Tower so it doesn’t become a circus. The residents are people who walk around the community who have had a catastrophic experience, and people can say things and conduct themselves in a way that can be insensitive.” Campaigners at recent public meetings have expressed concerns that some groups with vested interest in fomenting violence could target the carnival and try to use the anger surrounding the tragedy to start trouble.
Festival organisers want to establish a “quiet zone” where sound systems on the floats are switched off as mark of respect as they pass the 24-storey block. Party-goers will be invited to wear green to show their support for those who perished and the survivors of the blaze. Meanwhile, Commander David Musker, who is in charge of the policing of the carnival, was forced to defend the Met’s robust policing tactics folacid, lowing criticism from Stormzy, the grime rapper, that such heavy-handed tactics were reserved for black events rather than predominantly white music festivals like Glastonbury.
The musician had complained that the force tweeted a picture of a seizure of one kilogram of heroin as part of its preventive operation in the run-up to the carnival. The move was condemned by some as unfair because such a drug would be unlikely to be taken or sold at a carnival.
In the past few weeks, officers have executed hundreds of search warrants and arrested more than 650 people, many of whom are now banned from attending the event.
“What do the public expect of us?” Commander Musker asked. “Last year we had 70 to 80 stabbings, four of them people who nearly lost their lives. My officers saved the lives of those people. But, I cannot remember a single murder at Glastonbury.
“We are going to be uncompromising in ensuring the safety and security of the public, and if that means putting a significant effort into dealing with criminality before carnival I am unapologetic about that and I will continue to do it.”