Eyewitness: two protests in three days challenge the Met and its weary officers

Chris Hobbs attends a lively Palestine Action protest during the week when it was proscribed by the Home Office as a terrorist organisation and another protest that attracted fewer headlines.

It was always going to be unpredictable; a ‘short notice’ protest which was a response to Yvette Cooper’s announcement that Palestine Action, who describe themselves as a ‘peaceful, direct action’ protest group would become designated as a proscribed terrorist organisation.

This followed two members of the group entering the RAF base at Brize Norton causing £30 million pounds worth of damage to two military aircraft; the group claimed that those planes were being used to assist Israel in their war with Hamas. Other well documented incidents involved criminal damage and violence and the latest action was the straw that eventually ‘broke the camel’s back’ as far as the government were concerned.

The group originally announced that their protest would take place in Parliament Square at 12 noon on Monday to coincide with the Home Secretary’s announcement. The Met imposed conditions that not only included Parliament Square but Whitehall. The visit of Ukraine’s president to Downing Street may have influenced that decision.

Palestine Action then stated that they would be changing the venue and gathering in Trafalgar Square. Alas when protesters arrived, they found that Trafalgar Square was fenced off as workers were dismantling equipment used during a weekend concert.

Instead arriving protesters gathered on the fringe of the square and as their numbers increased and began to spill into the road, the group moved around the Square towards the National Gallery before halting at the approach to Charing Cross Road. Predictably, there was chanting as the group, joined by more protesters, began to spill into the road despite the best efforts of officers.

By this time what is termed a ‘media scrum’ had formed which included two familiar journalistic faces from ITV and Sky News.

The first arrests

At about 12.45pm police moved into the crowd in order to make an arrest which resulted in the first of several angry reactions by the protesters who pushed and jostled officers whilst chanting the familiar; ‘shame on you.’ Those officers managed to extract their prisoner but the palpable anger ran through the crowd. One protester angrily confronted a line of the police with that familiar phrase of ‘I pay your wages.’

This set the pattern for the remainder of day with police making a number of arrests and the crowd reacting angrily which resulted in a series of skirmishes. At about 13.45 hours, as predicted, a small group of pro-Israeli ‘inserts’ materialised, looking presumably to provoke a reaction; a fact which was to be subsequently’ commented on by the Met’s Commissioner. Sir Mark rightly used the analogy of unfurling an Israeli flag in the midst of a pro-Palestinian protest to a Spurs fan displaying his club’s flag in the midst of Arsenal fans, explaining that officers would be expected to take action.

One familiar face was grabbed by police and frogmarched away from the scene. Amusingly, some believed he was a pro-Palestinian protester and chased after the officers demanding his release.

Further pro-Israeli inserts appeared and had to be ushered on to a marooned bus for their own safety while the skirmishes turned uglier with more arrests as the witching hour of 3pm approached. Most arrests saw officers clearly being obstructed which could have resulted in further arrests. Reports began to suggest that some officers had been punched and kicked during these exchanges. There was, however, amongst the participants, a realisation that the protest would have to end at 3pm as laid down in the imposed conditions.

Young Mums, no batons and the TSG

Amazingly, amidst the disorder, there was a group of young mothers sitting in the roadway complete with prams, push chairs and toddlers as if at a picnic.

The protest organisers, using megaphones, briefed protesters in respect of departure tactics, namely that they should all leave together to avoid being ‘picked off’ by police.

The fact that the protest was well and truly over was clearly illustrated with the arrival of a number of ‘kitted’ TSG officers; the protesters duly dispersed. In all there were 13 arrests, six of which were for assault on an emergency worker. An updated report stated that seven had been charged with various offences. It remains to be seen, given the pressure on resources, whether there will be a post-incident investigation.

It is also worth pointing out that despite the inevitable police brutality allegations, officers did not at any stage draw their batons and there were no fleets of ambulances deployed to convey injured protesters to hospital.

The now familiar PSC Saturday protest

Just three days before, on the Saturday, there was the familiar sight of a Palestine Solidarity Campaign protest. On this occasion however, with heightened tensions in respect of Iran and the probable proscribing of Palestine Action, the number of protesters noticeably increased.

The march began at Russell Square and the usual encounter with rival pro-Israeli protesters was on the northside of Waterloo Bridge. On this occasion, the numbers on the pro-Israeli side seemed slightly down as opposed to. previous occasions.

As the march passed the counter-protest, insults were duly exchanged albeit from a safe distance. Again, pro-Palestine stewards were the first line of defence followed by a semi-sterile area; semi because members of the public were able to pass through it. Next came a cordon of police officers followed by steel barriers.

During the early stages on the march, police ‘propelled’ several ‘Inserts’ from the area of the march to behind the barriers and the ranks of the pro-Israeli supporters. The march itself, on this occasion displayed a number of Iranian flags and pictures of the country’s spiritual leader. Iranian flags could also be seen on the Israeli side, which have subtle differences to those representing the current regime. Also visible were placards stating ‘we are all Palestine Action.’

Compassionate assistance

At one stage a youthful female dressed in a hijab dropped out of the march and collapsed. Three police officers were quickly at her side as was a steward. Two police officers remained by her side providing re-assurance and treatment. She seemed to recover and the officers assisted her passage to a chair situated outside a nearby café. As she sat down, she collapsed again and required further treatment.

Interestingly, outside their allocated area, by the café, there was a small group of Jewish men silently watching the march. When the girl collapsed again one of the men rushed forward to assist her. It was perhaps the heartening moment of the day.

Police had to intervene on several occasions as a few of the marchers attempted to get closer to the pro-Israeli group whose superior speaker system continued to hurl insults at their opponents pausing occasionally to play music including Elton John’s ‘I’m still standing.’

A walk along the devoid of traffic Strand to Trafalgar Square and thence into Whitehall saw plenty of protest linked activity. On reaching Whitehall it was clear that the crowds were denser than had been seen for many months. At one stage the dense nature of the crowds brought back some unpleasant memories of the Notting Hill Carnival.

After the speeches had concluded the crowds in Whitehall thinned considerably and quickly but it was, nevertheless, an impressive turnout, doubtless prompted, as stated above, by recent events.

It remains to be seen whether the next few days sees additional ‘emergency protests.’ Next week should see, at least in London, a break in public order events relating to the Middle East.

However, next Saturday, during the football close-season, there is a Football Lads protest against grooming gangs which will be given impetus by the promised attendance of Tommy Robinson.  The nature of this event has resulted in an anti- racist counter-protest, a consequence of which will be another large policing operation to ensure both sides do not come into contact.

Betting aficionados would, I’m sure, if odds were offered, lay money on the fact that each side will claim police favoured the other; that if disorder occurs both sides will blame the police and that carefully edited or historical footage would be produced to illustrate those points of view.

Meanwhile, waiting in the wings, will be the IOPC.

Chris Hobbs is a former Special Branch officers who follows public order events as an observer for Police Oracle.

Category: OpsPublic Order