I have asked the Metropolitan Police for a full report on what happened. But of course trying to apply common sense and discretion and if people don’t understand the law, trying to help them to understand and engage and speak before we ever turn to any enforcement, but that is why I said we didn’t want it to end like that, let’s have a review. pic.twitter.com/yw007qm5yr, An impassioned speech by one of the co-founders of ABLUK, the group behind many BLM protests last summer https://t.co/wOtSWbmkhU, Fists go up during the minute silence held in memory of Sarah Everard outside Parliament Square. Scenes turned ugly in South London as police dragged people away from a … Stevenson, 28, a physics student from Southend in Essex, said she would like to “have a conversation” with the Metropolitan police commissioner, Cressida Dick, adding: “I think dialogue is very important in this case.”. Ms Ball added that officers had a “difficult decision” to make after some people at the memorial “began to gather close to the bandstand” to listen to speeches at about 6pm. There could be a large, peaceful set of vigils all over the country. Downing Street declined to comment. What was so shocking to me about last night when there was criticism of Sussex police, you could see loads of people had felt this pain in some way. In it, assistant commissioner Helen Ball said officers had acted responsibly to protect public health. Anthony France @NewsFrenchTony. I am really comfortable that we review what happened. That’s why this morning I said, from what I can tell, I wasn’t there, but from what I can tell, my officers - in a very difficult position, as they have been again and again in the last year policing within coronavirus restrictions, having to uphold the law, having to be impartial, having to be fair. Speaking at the protest was extremely emotional for me I have been saying the same things over and over for months and I finally think people are getting it. Asked what she thought when she saw the pictures of the policing at the vigil, she said: I wouldn’t have wanted to see a vigil in memory of Sarah end with those scenes. She added that had we not been in a time of coronavirus, officers would have been at vigils up and down the country themselves. As the sun set in Clapham Common, the mood at a vigil to pay tribute to Sarah Everard also darkened, moving from sombre defiance to frantic aggression as Metropolitan Police … Aamna Mohdin has been speaking to people who went to vigils outside London on Saturday, with attendees saying there was a marked contrast between policing in the capital and Brighton compared with other cities. The Duchess of Cambridge was among visitors to the site on Saturday afternoon – before the police moved in. Labour MP Stella Creasy tweeted: "Tonight women in Walthamstow made their feelings about the failure to tackle violence against women clear. The anger sparked by images of police pinning protesters to the floor at Clapham Common in London yesterday is matched for many by sheer disbelief. In a letter to the commissioner posted on Twitter, the campaign group said: “We implore you to change your approach and work with us to ensure that any future vigils can be safe, lawful and appropriate.”, Dear Commissioner Dick @metpoliceuk, please see our response to your statement today #Reclaimthesestreets pic.twitter.com/bF88tBvI04. The vast majority of attendees were masked and acting responsibly. The scenes in Clapham contrasted with those at other vigils across the UK, including in Nottingham and Birmingham. I reported a rape a couple years ago to Sussex police and know there’s an institutional problem. In Walthamstow women dressed in red cloaks and bonnets, inspired by Margaret Atwood's dystopian novel The Handmaid's Tale. Nobody wants a third wave to happen. “Kill the bill,” chant the protesters, in reference to the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill currently going through parliament, which will criminalise a number of forms of protest. Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies, Police detain women during a vigil for Sarah Everard at Clapham Common bandstand. Ken Marsh, the chairman of the Metropolitan Police Federation, said 26 officers were assaulted while policing the vigil on Clapham Common last night and has called widespread criticism of … The actions of the Metropolitan Police have now prompted Home Secretary Priti Patel to demand a “full report” on the incident. He appeared at Westminster Magistrates' Court on Saturday morning and was remanded in custody to appear at the Old Bailey on 16 March. … I have asked the Metropolitan Police for a full report on what happened. That this brutal reaction to the women who gathered to remember her was presided over by the first female Metropolitan police commissioner and the fourth female home secretary is a bitter feminist irony. I share their anger and upset at how this has been handled. Ms Everard went missing while walking home from a friend's flat in south London on 3 March. Sarah Everard mourners arrested by London police while attending Clapham Common vigil. The Parliament Square crowd is now dispersing, with police officers having kept a low profile throughout the vigil. The Met commissioner said that if the vigil on Clapham Common had been lawful, she would have been there herself. I spoke in the day to both the home secretary and the mayor, I’m very comfortable with that and I think officers will be as well. It’s only a few weeks since the NHS was on its knees. Ms Patel’s comments came as the government planned a crackdown on protests, including new requirements for notifying police and keeping noise low. Essential news, in … The Met compounded the anger with a statement blaming the participants, which both a government adviser and a Tory MP suggested was redolent of the language of male abusers. Aima, who didn’t wish to give her last name, co-founder of All Black Lives UK, said: There was a genuine atmosphere of solidarity between all women. Regrettably, a small minority of people began chanting at officers, pushing and throwing items.”. They have a really difficult job, they have to make fine judgments, they often don’t have infinite information or all the time in the world. The vigil … In her statement earlier, Cressida Dick said she welcomes, and is “very comfortable” with, a review into the events at the Sarah Everard vigil on Saturday. “The pandemic is not over,” she said. Here is some of the full text from Cressida Dick’s statement just now. It really escalated when the police surrounded one of the speakers. Clashes have broken out between police and mourners at a vigil for Sarah Everard. 33-year-old Sarah Everard disappeared last Wednesday evening, 3 March, as she was walking from a friend's house in Clapham, London back to her home in Brixton. Your support powers our independent journalism, Available for everyone, funded by readers. A vigil was held last night on Clapham Common to both honour the memory of Sarah Everard and to protest about the societal backdrop to her death. Metropolitan Police … One minister complained of the “huge inconvenience” caused by Extinction Rebellion demonstrations, while Ms Patel has criticised Black Lives Matter events as “dreadful”. Footage posted on social media shows police and mourners jostling near the Clapham … Several demonstrators were forcibly pulled away while at least one young woman was restrained on the floor by two officers. The onus is, and always has been, on you to have enabled this to happen - and by not doing so you have not only put people at a serious health risk through a lack of Covid-safe marshalling and at risk of being manhandled, fined and arrested by your officers, but also at risk of their human rights as defined under Articles 10 and 11 of the Human Rights Act 1998 being infringed upon. A vigil for Sarah Everard in Clapham this evening has been cancelled following discussions with police, with organisers instead encouraging people to shine a light on their doorstep at 9.30pm.