To be angry at the frenzy caused by others last night

[BarometerTV]

I think it was utterly disrespectful. We are in lockdown and it was not the right time for a protest. I agree with a quiet, respectful, socially distanced space to grieve - which is what appeared to happen during the day.

@BonnieDundee

I'd have wanted my daughter to be remembered, not for it to become about a wider political message.

I dont think it is entirely about Sarah any more. And i think that's ok. This is for every woman who has ever felt scared while out and about and to bring about change so that we can all feel safe.

I'd accept that comment months after her death. But it's been days, and her family'a grief is so fresh. It's not a case of not being about Sarah "anymore" - it never had a chance to be about her. And it's that I disagree with.

It's not a case of not being about Sarah "anymore" - it never had a chance to be about her.

This absolutely

The bottom line is that the vigil could have gone ahead in an organised, Covid-secure fashion if the Met had engaged. But they didn’t, it was just a blanket “no”.

It doesn’t take a policing genius to see that some sort of event was going to happen, given how high feelings are (rightly) running and the outpouring of grief. To fail to understand that there are issues other than Covid and that maybe some of those issues - like the right not to be assaulted, raped or murdered - are arguably more important, was spectacularly tone-deaf to start with. Throw in the fact that the accused is a serving Met officer AND the Met are under investigation for potentially failing to stop this happening and it was a PR disaster waiting to happen.

And now we have the “You brought this on yourselves” of classic victim blaming, misplaced defensiveness, and a complete failure to understand why their actions were wrong.

Of course we understand that the specific officers in this specific force don’t represent all officers or forces, but it damages trust in the police generally and could have a knock-on effect for years to come. What the hell did the Met think they were going to achieve?

How depressing to see the threads on here about how awful all this is for men and the police.

Why do people - women - find so women talking about their safety and rights so distasteful?

Wait until Covid’s over. Respect the police. Be nice to men. Don’t politicise something even if it speaks to the fears that underlie the way you live your life. Now isn’t the time - it’s insensitive.

Those are the messages coming out of this loud and clear.

I’m sure the OP and others on here will be happy that legislation will be pushed through tomorrow to stop protests...

Her only interview was with 'The Sun'.

Was she an activist who helped set up a situation where this would happen with co-conspirators?!? If she so she certainly got what she and they wanted.

Whatever happened it's just a travesty towards the memory of Sarah

[quote BarometerTV]@SilverBirchWithout there was no trampling during the day - rules were being followed. If people are breaking the law and behaving unsafely and attending a banned protest, who is at fault?? Had they not broken the law, no flowers would have been trampled.[/quote]
It wasn't a "banned protest", it was a perfectly legal vigil. The judge in the case was clear on the point that it wasn't illegal (although I concede that he was less clear about where that left things).

Agree that this was a travesty towards Sarah. And a backwards step for women’s rights. The families wishes should have been listened to first and foremost. There hasn’t even been a trial yet.

Vigil fine, but it over stepped the mark and became a protest.

@Love2cycle

The police have really messed up here. Attacking women at a protest about attacking women. How stupid can they be?

Particularly as the clip on the news showed two female officers manhandling a female protester

@Cabinfever10

Were you saying this about all the BLM protests at the height of the pandemic *@BarometerTV* ? Do women's lives matter? Should we just shut up and keep letting 1 woman be murdered every 3 days and all the sexual assaults happen because it's not convenient?

Most likely judging by the comments at the time.

Just an FYI @Cabinfever10 black lives and women's lives aren't mutually exclusive.

@BarometerTV

Vigil fine, but it over stepped the mark and became a protest.

I think the protest was organised by different people than the vigil. If was for their own gain rather than of any eespect/benefit to Sarah.

@FlyingByTheSeatof

Her only interview was with 'The Sun'.

Was she an activist who helped set up a situation where this would happen with co-conspirators?!? If she so she certainly got what she and they wanted.

Whatever happened it's just a travesty towards the memory of Sarah

I read that she's a crisis actor??
I'll admit I've never heard of one of those!

@MrsTabithaTwitchit

It's not a case of not being about Sarah "anymore" - it never had a chance to be about her.

This absolutely

I wonder why it's this particular case that has kicked things off. Women of all descriptions have been attacked and murdered by men since the dawn of time. I live in Hull so Libby Squire is fresh in my mind and her murder didn't have this kind of effect.

The cynic in me wonders if some people simply wanted something to do.

It ended up being a protest!

@Brefugee

It makes us women look like disrespectful harpies

So? I'd rather look like a disrespectful harpy than put up with yet another murder of a woman going about her own business.
I'd rather look like a disrespectful harpy than be told, yet again, to be quiet, agreeable and not rock the boat.

I will give the police exactly the kind of respect they earn.

I'm proud to be a disrespectful harpy if speaking out against violence and misogyny is what it takes.

Plus I like the idea of being a wind spirit.

I wonder why it's this particular case that has kicked things off

I think it's because we're at something of a tipping point when it comes to women getting pissed off at male violence.

I think relations between police and BAME people in the US were at a similar tipping point when George Floyd was murdered.

It.
Was.
Not.
A.
Protest.

"It makes us women look like disrespectful harpies"

Jesus fucking Christ.

@UrAWizHarry

It. Was. Not. A. Protest.

Patsy herself (the redhead who was arrested) says if you watch her interview online "it was a peaceful protest until the police arrived". She calls it that herself.

@BarometerTV

Vigil fine, but it over stepped the mark and became a protest.

Strongly agree

The things that people were asking for, minimum police presence, leaving people to pay their respects, had been going on all day, and has been going on all day today too.

There was a larger crowd at 6pm, but again no police intervention whatsoever. Many left after the applause. But the numbers were growing, as people poured in to the Common, and the area close to the bandstand filled up - people very tightly packed there.

Mood definitely changed some time after 6:30pm. The natures of the chants were different, people weren't distancing, it just changed. Police did not get out of vans until after that, and did not even begin to ask for dispersal until getting in for 7pm. And people did not disperse, so police started to act tomcompel

It was the tightly packed protest that the police acted against, in a fairly short time frame.

The vigils and acts of commemoration that have been going on all weekend (including the well attended but reasonably distanced silence and applause at 6pm) have not attracted any police intervention whatsoever.

The 6pm vigil changed into a noisy, packed protest.

Which I think was a shame

This thread is ridiculous.

Loads of whataboutisms regarding the Rangers debacle. It's a different fucking country operating under a different legal system. It has absolutely nothing to do with England and English policing.

Then there's people with 'what about BLM in the summer'. There wasn't a national lockdown while that protest was going on.

There's nothing excusing these groups gathering illegally to cause trouble this weekend, then blaming the police.

Patsy herself (the redhead who was arrested) says if you watch her interview online "it was a peaceful protest until the police arrived". She calls it that herself

If she means peaceful in the sense that no one in the crowd was fighting between each other, then correct. But she is utterly overlooking how crowded it was getting, and how the chanting changed. And how the initial requests for dispersal were met

It was meant to be a vigil

Wait until Covid’s over. Respect the police. Be nice to men. Don’t politicise something even if it speaks to the fears that underlie the way you live your life. Now isn’t the time - it’s insensitive.

This seems to be the overall message coming out. That we should be 'respectful' and 'appropriate' and 'peaceful' and 'wait for the right time'.

Bloody hell, to the police, and men in general, the right time is never. They don't want to deal with endemic male violence and misogyny because it isn't a problem for them. Can you imagine if the suffragettes were respectful and peaceful and appropriate, women's rights would be even less than they are today. And now is the right time, before it happens to another woman, because it will keep happening until its dealt with. Covid doesn't stop the misogyny and endemic male violence against women in this country, so it shouldn't stop us fighting against it either.

Allegedly the bunching occurred because of the police actively herding protestors closer together - and there is footage that supports that.

Why were they tightly ringed around the rotunda? The crowd didn't look as if it were about to attack the ruddy flowers.