Jokes1 min ago
Sarah Everard Vigil
I find it ironic that all those critisising the police trying to disperse thes women are all too ready to support the police in this situation when other groups get together for any other reason.
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When my mother died last year she wasn't allowed to lie at rest in her church. Her funeral was a graveside one attended by the allowed five or six relatives. Those of us in Ireland were told if we left our county and attempted to travel to the UK we would be stopped, asked to turn back and, if we refused, we would be arrested.
Not long after her funeral, another took place of a man from the same town. He was given a huge church funeral in Kettering. 150 mourners with a police presence to manage the traffic. It is known that many people from Ireland travelled to the funeral without hindrance on either side of the Irish Sea.
Asked last month about the fines for this gathering the police chief said the event was still being investigated. He also said they had engaged with the mourners to ensure they could pay their respects to the deceased.
I doubt my mother's family would have been treated as kindly because, like the women at the vigil, we would have been and easy to deal with target. But then the police are known for not upsetting travellers.
The other thing that has crossed my mind. If Meghan Markle had attended the vigil with or without a mask would she have been had the same responses as Kate Middleton is getting.
Not long after her funeral, another took place of a man from the same town. He was given a huge church funeral in Kettering. 150 mourners with a police presence to manage the traffic. It is known that many people from Ireland travelled to the funeral without hindrance on either side of the Irish Sea.
Asked last month about the fines for this gathering the police chief said the event was still being investigated. He also said they had engaged with the mourners to ensure they could pay their respects to the deceased.
I doubt my mother's family would have been treated as kindly because, like the women at the vigil, we would have been and easy to deal with target. But then the police are known for not upsetting travellers.
The other thing that has crossed my mind. If Meghan Markle had attended the vigil with or without a mask would she have been had the same responses as Kate Middleton is getting.
As a 'middle-class, law-abiding citizen', I need to have confidence in the police - indeed if they've lost the confidence of people like me then they're really not fit for purpose.
Sadly, over a prolonged period, I've watched so many Police Forces behaving so badly whilst theoretically 'maintaining public order' that I wouldn't trust them to behave well in any situation.
This was an easy target - so they leaned on the organisers and were then excessively heavy handed with a crowd of essentially peaceable women.
Compare and contrast with their feeble/inert responses to sundry other pevents over the period of lockdown - where were they at the many funerals where Travellers ignored all restriction, where were they at the BLM and anti-mask demonstrations? The answer is that they were cowering in their vans, hiding at their HQs and doing nothing.
If they had stamped on every illegal gathering throughout lockdown, then they would have been justified in breaking up this one - but we all know that they pick and choose their targets very carefully.
It's UK Policing in a microcosm - always happy to make life difficult for people who can't (or won't) fight back, always shirking responsibilty when it comes to the hard stuff.
Sadly, over a prolonged period, I've watched so many Police Forces behaving so badly whilst theoretically 'maintaining public order' that I wouldn't trust them to behave well in any situation.
This was an easy target - so they leaned on the organisers and were then excessively heavy handed with a crowd of essentially peaceable women.
Compare and contrast with their feeble/inert responses to sundry other pevents over the period of lockdown - where were they at the many funerals where Travellers ignored all restriction, where were they at the BLM and anti-mask demonstrations? The answer is that they were cowering in their vans, hiding at their HQs and doing nothing.
If they had stamped on every illegal gathering throughout lockdown, then they would have been justified in breaking up this one - but we all know that they pick and choose their targets very carefully.
It's UK Policing in a microcosm - always happy to make life difficult for people who can't (or won't) fight back, always shirking responsibilty when it comes to the hard stuff.
I totally agree with fiveleaves @ 12.08. I thought this had been deemed illegal by the courts and called off by the organisers, so what are the police supposed to do? Ignore an illegal gathering? Most activists don’t go quietly when asked to disperse, but make sure they get the police involved, to garner media headlines.
Dave I agree ‘a crowd of essentially peaceful women’ but they were breaking the lockdown rules. How many of us have stuck to lockdown rules for fear of getting infected? Then we see hundreds of people breaking the rules. Be they peaceful women, football supporters or hooligans . My post in no way minimises the horrific death of this young woman .
Anne - I refer you to the penultimate paragraph of my post - the gathering was indeed illegal and should not have happened - it devalues all the sacrifices that so many people have made over the last year.
But once it did happen the conduct of the Police was in stark contrast to previous failures to disperse illegal gatherings. That's the point I was making.
But once it did happen the conduct of the Police was in stark contrast to previous failures to disperse illegal gatherings. That's the point I was making.
This is from someone who was there:
'Tonight’s Virgil for Sarah. A female officers point of view..
It started with mainly only female officers overlooking a civil vigil. When numbers grew and social distancing seized more officers were called.
When police officers tried to crowd control and remove people from stamping on flowers for Sarah they refused. Then it kicked off
Then I saw people being arrested and my colleagues being assaulted when trying to transport said prisoner.
Then I saw our vehicles being vandalised with spray with the word ACAB and a mirror being smashed.
Then I thought what would Sarah’s family think about this?
Then I saw and heard my colleagues being abused. They were called murderers, rapists, a female colleague was told it should have been her. And we were told to arrest each other. This is not ok.
Sarah’s family and friends have been so gracious under the circumstances. I do not believe they would want this to happen. If it was me I would not want this to happen. Stop think and be civil we are all humans and we all are angry at what happened. We do not need more violence.
I am a woman. I am a police officer. I am very proud of being both. This week has me exhausted. Physically from the job and mentally by all this.
We are not at fault for what happened because if we knew we would have done what we could to stop it.'
'Tonight’s Virgil for Sarah. A female officers point of view..
It started with mainly only female officers overlooking a civil vigil. When numbers grew and social distancing seized more officers were called.
When police officers tried to crowd control and remove people from stamping on flowers for Sarah they refused. Then it kicked off
Then I saw people being arrested and my colleagues being assaulted when trying to transport said prisoner.
Then I saw our vehicles being vandalised with spray with the word ACAB and a mirror being smashed.
Then I thought what would Sarah’s family think about this?
Then I saw and heard my colleagues being abused. They were called murderers, rapists, a female colleague was told it should have been her. And we were told to arrest each other. This is not ok.
Sarah’s family and friends have been so gracious under the circumstances. I do not believe they would want this to happen. If it was me I would not want this to happen. Stop think and be civil we are all humans and we all are angry at what happened. We do not need more violence.
I am a woman. I am a police officer. I am very proud of being both. This week has me exhausted. Physically from the job and mentally by all this.
We are not at fault for what happened because if we knew we would have done what we could to stop it.'
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