The Mail on Sunday

Target vandals – not legal protests

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BEHOLD Mr Astrophel Sang, 19, who in June twice tried to set light to the Union Flag which adorns the Cenotaph, the national shrine to our war dead.

Luckily for him the flag conformed to EU safety rules and would not catch fire. His penalty is basically nothing at all – a two-year conditiona­l discharge plus some costs.

At the time, he was taking part in a Black Lives Matter protest against the death of George Floyd while in police custody in Minneapoli­s, in the USA. Quite why that impelled him to climb the Cenotaph, I am at a loss to say.

And his sentence contrasts sharply with that imposed on Charlie Gilmour, the Cambridge student who was sent to prison in 2011 for swinging on the Cenotaph flag.

His treatment is also very different from the handling of demonstrat­ors against the Covid shutdown measures.

Now, there are undoubtedl­y some unpleasant people who attach themselves to these marches. But there are also plenty of normal, peaceable citizens. And I am increasing­ly disturbed by the aggressive, almost hostile, approach of the police to such marchers, as well as the tyrannical fines imposed on their organisers without any semblance of a trial.

I gave up protest marches decades ago, but I think the freedom to protest is vital. The dubious claim that such marches breach Covid regulation­s simply does not work for me.

If people turn violent, or damage memorials, the police should respond with all necessary force. But peaceful protests should be left alone, and treated with respect.

 ??  ?? LENIENT SENTENCE: Teenager Astrophel Sang tries to set fire to the Cenotaph’s Union Flag during a Black Lives Matter protest in June
LENIENT SENTENCE: Teenager Astrophel Sang tries to set fire to the Cenotaph’s Union Flag during a Black Lives Matter protest in June

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