Police tactics at vigil for slain woman draw scrutiny
An official vigil for a London woman whose killing has a police officer facing murder charges and is spurring a national conversation about violence against women in the U.K. ended Saturday night with the city’s Police Department under scrutiny for the way officers handled some participants at the event held in defiance of coronavirus restrictions.
Hundreds of people disregarded a judge’s ruling and police requests by gathering at Clapham Common in honor of Sarah Everard, 33, who last was seen alive near the south London park March 3. Demonstrators said they wanted to draw attention to the fear and danger many women see as a daily part of British life.
Everard disappeared while walking home from a friend’s apartment about 10:30 p.m. and was found dead a week later. The slaying sent shockwaves across the U.K. because a Metropolitan Police officer is charged with her kidnapping and murder.
Video of Saturday’s informal vigil turned rally showed officers from the same police force tussling with participants as they pushed their way through the crowd. At one point, several male officers grabbed hold of several women and pulled them away in handcuffs to screaming and shouting from onlookers, Britain’s Press Association reported.
London Mayor Sadiq Khan decried the police actions.
“The police have a responsibility to enforce COVID laws, but from images I’ve seen it’s clear the response was at times neither appropriate nor proportionate,” Khan said on Twitter.
Home Secretary Priti Patel tweeted that she had asked the Metropolitan Police for a full report on what happened. The gathering happened hours after London constable Wayne Couzens, 48, appeared in court for the first time since his arrest in Everard’s death. As Metropolitan Police officers approached the Clapham Common bandstand on Saturday evening, boos, jeers and shouts of “Shame on you” came from the crowd, according to the Press Association.
Organizers had hoped to have “Reclaim the Streets” vigils in Everard’s memory at the south London location and in other U.K. cities on Saturday but canceled the in-person events after a judge refused to grant an order allowing them to go on despite despite coronavirus restrictions that bar mass gatherings.
Hundreds of people showed up nonetheless. Before police moved in, many participants laid flowers at the park bandstand. Among them was Kate, the Duchess of Cambridge, who was seen pausing for a moment in front of the sea of flowers.