Eyewitness: Palestine Action, rugby scrums and the curse of the auditors

Chris Hobbs attends the latest protest linked to Palestine Action, and here he writes of what he saw.

Another Saturday and another protest linked to the Palestine issue or more specifically, to the now proscribed Palestine Action group of activists.

Those who were prepared to be arrested, complete with incriminating placards, congregated around the Mahatma Gandhi statue in Parliament Square. When that became congested, later arrivals moved on to the statue of Nelson Mandela, with most being seated. Watching their defiance were a group of vocal supporters who were clearly not prepared to spend most of their Saturday in a Metropolitan Police custody suite.

The biggest group, however, apart from the Met officers present, were the assembled photographers, photojournalists and television camera crews. At about 1.15PM, officers began to move amongst the protesters quietly suggesting that, to avoid arrest, they should leave. This triggered a flurry of activity amongst the media, who jostled amongst themselves to obtain the most favourable vantage point.

After exhausting their powers of persuasion, Met officers began their arrests, walking or carrying their prisoners to one of the prisoner transport vans parked a short distance away. Each arrest triggered frantic activity amongst the assembled news gatherers that was a cross between the feeding frenzy of a shoal of piranha fish and a no-holds-barred rugby scrum.

As well as the media, some of the aforementioned supporters also joined in the chaos with chants of ‘who do you protect’ and ‘let him/her go.’ The arrests were staggered, and once those around the Gandhi statue had been removed, police attention turned towards those surrounding Nelson Mandela. One young female collapsed as she was being led away and was gently lowered to the floor by concerned officers. The comment that she was ‘faking it’ appeared unfounded as she genuinely looked flushed and unwell. She did, however, reject my offer of iced water, which was delivered via one of the officers. She eventually recovered and was placed in a police prisoner van.

Events were enlivened still further by some sort of spat between two photographers. One was arrested for common assault, and reportedly 45 Palestine Action supporters were detained for offences related to the terrorism act.

The menace of self-appointed police auditors

In addition to the ‘rugby scrums’ which formed as individuals were arrested, another feature was the presence of a so-called auditor. These are individuals who exercise their ‘right’ as members of the public to question police officers on various issues. This involves placing a phone or camera in the officer’s face and either asking questions designed to embarrass the officer concerned; the ultimate hope of the auditor is that the officer may say something injudicious which the auditor can post online in addition to complaining to the officer’s force.

Auditors began their activities outside the gates of police stations in the north of England. They ignore requests to desist and argue if asked to move. They can also be found at crime scenes demanding information or complaining that they are not allowed to pass through cordons protecting crime scenes.

On one infamous occasion, a protest in Parliament Square on a midweek morning saw an unrelated incident where, to the horror of watching officers, a female cyclist ended up under the wheels of a lorry. A cordon was established to facilitate a post-accident investigation, but this particular well-known auditor vociferously demanded that he be allowed to pass through.

The auditor who drew attention to himself on Saturday in Parliament Square was, with his phone and some sort of minder, constantly in the faces of officers who ignored him and, where they could, walked away. It would seem that his particular campaign is against police officers who wear the Thin Blue Line (TBL) patch. He is aware that the Commissioner controversially banned his officers from displaying the patch, and this auditor voraciously hunts down any who may have ignored the instruction. He refers to the patch as a gang patch.

Whether this was his ‘raison d’être’ for pursuing officers during the course of the afternoon isn’t known, as no ‘gang patch’ was visible. However, despite his best efforts, he was ignored; as stated above, officers stared straight ahead or walked off. This raises the whole question of the behaviour of auditors who push the limits of the law in their harassment of police officers, and is one that should occupy the National Police Chiefs Council and the Police Federation.

The future

Next Saturday sees another ‘national’ Palestine Solidarity Campaign march and rally in London, which will attract thousands. It remains to be seen whether some of the marchers will display placards supporting Palestine Action; doubtless, the organisers will make their position clear before the day of the march. Interestingly, the two girls who wore paraglider patches in the early days of protest after 7/10 received conditional discharges when they appeared in court accused of supporting Hamas, a proscribed organisation.

Another public order incident took place on July 5 when 20 far-right activists attempted to disrupt a Marxist rally in East London and footage showed disorder with two officers ‘holding the line’ before reinforcements arrived.

In Epping on Sunday, a hotel housing migrants became a focal point of disorder between local residents, accompanied by Britain First activists and anti-racist protesters. This followed an allegation of sexual assault against a migrant resident at the hotel; the victim, according to social media, was a teenage girl. It remains to be seen whether these incidents are the forerunners of a ‘summer of discontent. It’s hard not to escape the feeling, given the oft-repeated sentiments on social media, that many would welcome a repeat of the disorder seen across the UK almost twelve months ago. Footage of a bloodied migrant resident at the above-mentioned hotel, apparently assaulted by protesters, which appeared on ‘X’ was greeted with approbation by hundreds.