Republican Protestors Being Arrested

[Untitled]

in edinburgh a woman holding an 'eff imperialism abolish the monarchy' sign has been arrested outside st giles cathedral...

https://metro.co.uk/2022/09/11/woman-arrested-after-holding-abolish-monarchy-sign-in-edinburgh-17351692/

in london a woman outside buckingham palace holding a 'not my king' sign is led away by the police...

https://www.standard.co.uk/video/news/antiroyal-protestor-holding-a-poster-with-the-slogan-not-my-king-b1025012.html

in oxford a 45 year old man was arrested for shouting 'who elected him?' at an event for the new king's proclamation...

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2022/sep/11/republican-protesters-arrested-king-charles-proclamation-events

is this really right? Should everyone be forced to respect the monarchy or shut up if they object to it?

[New Judge]

//…are we really going to force everyone to be mournful about the queen?//

Nobody is being forced to be mournful for The Queen. I’m not mournful and I am a devout royalist who believes The Queen was the greatest Monarch this country has ever had – and it’s had some great ones. She served the country superbly and I’m sad she’s gone. But I’m not mournful. Life goes on and our Monarchy continues seamlessly.

If enough people want the country to become a Republic then they should lobby their MPs to get a movement going. However, I think they will find themselves very much in the minority. Meanwhile, they should accept that many people are sad at the Queen’s passing and even if they don’t want to mourn, they’d like to reflect peacefully. Now is not the time to parade about with insulting placards. They could have done so any time in the last seventy years. At the moment they should shut up for a couple of weeks.

[New Judge]

//> in oxford a 45 year old man was arrested for shouting 'who elected him?' at an event for the new king's proclamation...

I've got a bit of sympathy for that one.//

Why have you any sympathy? The only sympathy I would have is for the protester's apparent ignorance. At 45 years old he should be aware of the fact that the UK is a Constitutional Monarchy and that the Crown passes to the next Monarch under the various Acts and protocols that govern the succession. The question is inane and the answer is straightforward - nobody elected him. Quite why that question should be posed is a little mysterious.

[Untitled]

if the reason they were removed is indeed for their own safety then I do think it's worth asking why... are monarchists really so intolerant that they're willing to use violence against people who make them uncomfortable?

[Untitled]

i think he knew the answer new judge and was directing peoples' attention toward it... the King is unelected, yet he wields power and privilege.

[Untitled]

"At the moment they should shut up for a couple of weeks. "

and should those that don't be arrested in your opinion?

it seems to me that people are responding by saying whether or not like or agree with the protestors but that's surely irrelevant isn't it?

[Paigntonian]

It's called breaching the peace. Anyone who starts shouting about the late Queen is likely to meet with misfortune from the people around him or her. You seem terribly well informed about 'protests' against the Queen and/or the monarchy which is a little disconcerting. Nothing against republicans, anarchists or others but, for goodness sake, there's a time and a place.

[Ellipsis]

> Why have you any sympathy?

Because I believe in free speech, but not the right to shout "Fire!" in a crowded cinema, which is more like the other two scenarios in the OP.

[Paigntonian]

'are monarchists really so intolerant that they're willing to use violence against people who make them uncomfortable?' 'Monarchists' didn't use violence or arrest anyone.

[Paigntonian]

More to the point is it can't really be too much to ask for people to at least try to be respectful until the Queen's funeral. What if it was your mother?

[jno]

no, but the suggestion (see Best Answer) is that monarchists will use violence and protesters are in need protection from them.

[Ellipsis]

> More to the point is it can't really be too much to ask for people to at least try to be respectful until the Queen's funeral. What if it was your mother?

The shout at the proclamation of the new King was nothing to do with the Queen, it was to do with the new King and his role reigning over us - "Who elected him?"

I think it's fair and reasonable to assume that most people standing outside St Giles or Buckingham Palace were people paying respect, therefore anybody saying or doing nasty things is upsetting and disturbing the peace. But proclaiming the new King - that's our democracy in action, in public, in the streets of your town and, if you don't like it, you have every right to say so. It's not fair and reasonable to assume that everybody turning up to hear that proclamation was turning up because they agree with it ...

[Canary42]

You ain't seen nothing yet - Patel wants to outlaw all protests.

[bobbinwales]

Well fortunately shes not any longer in that role canary

[jno]

yes, she's been replaced by the ultraliberal Cruella Braverman, hasn't she?

[FatticusInch]

This idiot was lucky that the Police were present to save him from harm.

https://news.sky.com/video/share-12695958

[fiveleaves]

Unpopular opinion perhaps, but there really no such thing as complete freedom of speech, because a functioning society has to have some base level of acceptable values and behaviour

[ynnafymmi]

Republicans,eh.Was Donald Trump there?

[jno]

he wasn't exactly lying, just chose the wrong moment.

[douglas9401]

I doubt the protestors were in any real danger, hard to give someone a proper doing when your focus is on the hand holding the phone to 'respectfully' record events.