Police ‘overzealous’ in arresting and silencing protesters
POLICE have been ‘overzealous’ in their handling of anti-monarchy protests following the Queen’s death, a former counterterror chief said yesterday.
nick Aldworth, who was the national co-ordinator for UK counter-terrorism policing until 2019, accused some officers of showing ‘inappropriate overprotectiveness towards the dignity of the event’ after a number of arrests were made.
As civil liberty groups accused ‘ heavy-handed’ officers of an ‘ affront to democracy’, he claimed the Queen herself would not have wanted ‘ interference with legitimate protest’.
Mr Aldworth spoke out after a video went viral showing barrister Paul Powlesland being asked for his details by an officer after holding up a blank piece of paper in Parliament Square.
Mr Powlesland, a tenant at garden Court Chambers who specialises in protest rights among other things, claimed he had been threatened with arrest under the Public order Act if he wrote ‘not my king’ on the paper. He wrote on Twitter: ‘[An officer] confirmed that if i wrote “not my king” on it, he would arrest me under the Public order Act because someone might be offended.
‘A period of quiet mourning for the Queen is fine, but using that period to cement Charles’s accession as King and cracking down on any dissent to the accession as disrespectful is outrageous.’
A woman brandishing signs saying ‘Abolish the Monarchy’ and ‘not My King’ outside Parliament as King Charles addressed MPs was also escorted away from gates by officers.
And a 22-year- old man has been charged with breaching the peace for heckling Prince Andrew, shouting: ‘You’re a sick old man’ as he was walking behind the Queen’s coffin on the Royal Mile in edinburgh.
Furious mourners yanked the protester backwards, dragging him to the ground and pushing him out of the crowd before he was led away by police, insisting: ‘i’ve done nothing wrong.’
in another unrelated incident, a 45-year-old man was arrested in oxford on Sunday after he shouted ‘Who elected him?’ during a public proclamation of King Charles iii’s accession. He was later de-arrested.
A 22-year-old woman has also been charged in connection with a breach of the peace after holding a sign that said ‘F*** imperialism, abolish monarchy’ during the Accession Proclamation for the King outside St giles’ Cathedral in edinburgh.
it comes as activists gathered outside St giles’ yesterday to protest against the recent arrests. Protester Douglas Rogers, 27, said: ‘We live in a free society and there’s someone spending ten hours in a police station being treated as a criminal for sharing an opinion. We have to be able to disagree with each other, as long as it’s in a peaceful way.’
Mr Aldworth said of the recent arrests: ‘There was an inappropriate overprotectiveness towards the dignity of the event. And i think the Met has come out very strongly and said no, that’s not right. The nature of cops and the military is we all swear an oath of allegiance and i think sometimes we forget that part of allegiance is upholding what the Crown would want.
‘i met the Queen on countless occasions across my career and the one thing i’m pretty certain about was that she was an advocate of democracy and she would not want that level of disruption and interference with legitimate protest. They didn’t act appropriately, it’s overzealous.’
Silkie Carlo, director of Big Brother Watch, said: ‘Police officers have a duty to protect people’s right to protest as much as they have a duty to facilitate people’s right to express support, sorrow, or pay their respects.’
The 1986 Public order law gives police powers of arrest for people judged to be guilty of causing ‘harassment, alarm or distress’ through ‘threatening words or behaviour, or disorderly behaviour,’ including by holding up signs. experts say it can also be necessary for police to intervene for the safety of protesters if the crowd turns against them.
The national Police Chiefs Council said it had issued guidance to forces on protests, saying officers must balance the rights of demonstrators against those who wish to grieve and reflect.
Deputy Assistant Commissioner Stuart Cundy said: ‘officers will approach and speak to people – please don’t be alarmed. They may also ask people to move if they are blocking access. i encourage everyone to display patience and communicate with each other.’
‘Not what the Queen would’ve wanted’
WITH wearying inevitability, a tiny number of anti-monarchist protesters have targeted public events to mourn the Queen and celebrate the new King.
But while these demonstrations were insensitive and inappropriate, the police’s heavy-handed response to those expressing republican views is deeply troubling.
Should a man who yelled ‘Who elected him?’ at a proclamation of Charles III really be arrested? Was it honestly proportionate to charge a woman simply for holding up a sign that read ‘Abolish the monarchy’? Their actions were hardly high treason.
Sadly, this was the latest disturbing example of officers overstepping the mark.
In this of all weeks, it’s important the police remember the monarchy symbolises our democratic liberties. And the most essential one of those is freedom of speech.