Analysis
A Saturday spent with London’s protesters
Former Met officer Chris Hobbs gives an insider view on another weekend's Black Lives Matter and Anti-Lockdown protests in the capital.
As the Saturday before Christmas came to an end, the hierarchy of the Metropolitan Police must have breathed a collective sigh of relief as two, potentially challenging public order events, passed off without major incident.
Social media had played a major role in prompting one protest with the filming of a stop and search incident in Tottenham involving a 16-year-old youth. As has now become familiar, part of the incident was captured on a mobile phone and involved a police officer attempting to restrain the youth with others joining in.
Social media and then activists voiced their indignation that the officer appeared to punch the youth; the fact that officers can, in certain circumstances, both kick and punch if such force is proportionate appears to be lost on many of the public.
The result was a statement from the Chief Superintendent Treena Fleming, who decided that body worn camera footage could be shown to certain community representatives. Whilst there was no ringing endorsement from those who viewed footage, the condemnation did not appear as harsh as might have been anticipated.
By this time, however, a vociferous but small protest march in respect of the incident had taken place. Footage showed a number of schoolchildren participating and it ended at Tottenham Police Station without incident. It did however provoke howls of outrage from those on the far right as to why it wasn’t forcibly broken up.
That controversial second statement
The second statement from the Chief Superintendent proved more controversial. She said she was sorry to residents and communities for the ‘upset and distress’ caused to those viewing the footage and then ‘sincerely’ apologised to ‘young persons and others’ who had witnessed the incident.
The referral to the Independent Office for Police Conduct was mentioned and she announced that the officers had been removed from ‘front-line’ duties.
Black Lives Matter newsletter, 19 December
Whilst there is an argument for referring incidents that attract both publicity and community concerns to the IOPC, it could also be argued that if a similar incident had occurred in say, Carlisle the IOPC would not have been troubled.
It has been argued that police have adopted a two-tier approach to protests over the last few months; the same argument could perhaps be applied to IOPC referrals.
Some, within the police community supported the Chief Superintendents stance, others were furious and the expression, ‘thrown under a bus’ could frequently be found on police social media.
In any event, Black Lives Matter, when announcing their Saturday protest outside Tottenham Police Station, viewed the second statement as some sort of victory.
In fairness all senior officers and indeed many front-line officers across the Met will have been haunted by memories of the riots of 2011 which, of course, began at Tottenham. On this occasion, the violent BLM protests in London following the death of George Floyd meant that this protest was a potential catalyst for further serious disorder.
Social media was full of details concerning the protest and of course the Met also had to contend with what promised to be the biggest anti-Lockdown demonstration yet in central London.
The BLM Tottenham Protest
As far as the Black Lives Matter protest was concerned, one factor that would have concerned police was whether the areas well established gangs would, as in 2011, forget their differences and attend the protest hoping to jointly instigate a confrontation with police. Recent violent incidents over the previous twelve months resulting in deaths and serious injuries perhaps mitigated against an alliance but it remained a possibility.
The Met would also have been aware that since the height of their activities immediately after the death of George Floyd, BLM linked protests had attracted, at most, a very modest 400.
On this occasion, despite the exhortations on social media and the anger directed against police, on my arrival, I could see that the protesters numbered barely 200; the majority were white anti-racists which included support from Extinction Rebellion activists.
A handful of officers watched on including a black police constable who, in fairness, was engaged in amicable conversations with a number of protesters; it was a far cry from the abuse black officers received at the height of the George Floyd protests months ago.
Speeches and chants
Local activist Ken Hinds, whilst recounting his own account of being ‘wrongfully arrested,’ was quite conciliatory and spoke of improved cooperation and consultation with police.
Predictably, the second statement by the Chief Superintendent, was portrayed as an admission of guilt by the Met while other speakers led chants of ‘defund the police’ and ‘no justice no peace.’
Interestingly, the local MP came under fierce attack for not be being present and chants of ‘David Lammy, where are you?’ were replaced by ‘David Lammy, shame on you?’
There was a demand that the officers involved should be immediately ‘sacked’ which was agreed by a unanimous vote while another speaker stated that the officer primarily featured in the footage should be immediately charged with GBH and another charged with ‘joint enterprise.’
As far as Covid was concerned, most protesters wore masks and the paucity of the crowd meant that social distancing wasn’t generally an issue. Protests, under Tier 3 are exempt from the Covid regulations providing a risk assessment is completed by the organisers, agreed by the authorities and adhered to by the protesters themselves.
And down to Piccadilly
As rain descended for a second time, protesters began to drift away and I moved down to central London. Clearly anti-Lockdown protesters hadn’t presented any risk assessment and complying with Covid regulations was a clear anathema to each and every one.
By the time I had reached Piccadilly, the last act of the afternoon was being played out. As with the BLM protest, the numbers attending were well below expectations. As opposed to the thousands which were expected, around 400 had actually materialised in Parliament Square.
Footage clearly shows them being warned by officers before they set off on their inevitable march, although why the Met’s budget doesn’t run to officers using megaphones and loudspeakers attached to carriers so there can be no doubts about the warning being relayed is a mystery.
Protesters in Parliament Square
By the time bemused tourists were viewing the somewhat bedraggled remnants of anti-lockdown protesters assembling, a number of arrests had been made. The fact that the Met had expected a far bigger protest was illustrated by the sheer volume of carriers disgorging their officers in order to disperse both protesters and tourists.
What could have been a day which had the potential of a near doomsday public order scenario in London’s capital was over and common sense had, perhaps with the assistance of a little Christmas spirit, by and large, prevailed.
Chris Hobbs is a retired Metropolitan Police officer who served in Special Branch
Category: Ops
Tags: LondonMetropolitan Police ServicePolice OfficerPublic Order