Here we go again Woman arrested for sitting on a bench.

[MercyBooth]

www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9130133/Police-told-fine-Covid-rule-breakers-just-ONE-verbal-warning.html

And yet today in my Sainsbury’s local there was a young bloke ahead of me at the checkout wearing his mask under his nose, and a young couple who strolled in, neither wearing a mask or a lanyard and nobody said a word to any of them.

Why TF are shops not required to get much tougher on this? The placard outside says you’re required to wear a mask ‘unless you’re exempt - (fair enough but in that case wear a lanyard) ‘or have a reasonable excuse’.

So ‘I just don’t feel like it/forgot to bring one, so in the highly unlikely event that anybody asks, I’ll just make up a ‘reasonable excuse’.

I want harsher restrictions and know exactly what I’m asking for.
If you’re genuinely too stupid to appreciate the difference between a despotic regime and a major public heath emergency then you are there problem here.
THIS

Oh ffs. What about elderly people walking to the shop and back?

@Lemons1571

I thought in the first lockdown, police were told not to confront anyone in certain areas of London for fear of inciting riots. They were instructed to hang back and monitor only.

I would guess the police select more compliant targets to show the wider world they are cracking down.

I sometimes think that people forget that the ultimate aim is to prevent virus transmission.

There were areas of Manchester where the police didn't dare intervene. At least until a firearm was seen at a largely attended funeral. Funnily enough the same area had a high case rate during the first lockdown.

If you read other news articles, she was part of a group of about 35 people taking part in a protest and when asked to disperse she was one of those who refused. There's video footage showing this.

Ignore my last comment- this makes a difference definitely.

@Nishky

‘You don't have to give your details unless you're breaking a law.’

That is totally incorrect. People who don’t know the law should not try to quote it.

Gov website says different.

Where in that website does it say about only having to give details if you have broken the law. Please screenshot that bit.

@TheGreatWave

There are still far too many posters on here though that would happily see people arrested for simply sitting on a bench.

This. The majority of people seem to have lost all reason. Having said that, and in the spirit of generosity so lacking on SM, the government has done an absolutely sterling job of diverting people's ire from the real issues which are the years of public health and NHS mismanagement, and encouraging people to turn on each other. 10 out of 10. It is a political tactic as old as society itself - use fear to turn members of the population against each other and not fight for what actually matters long-term. So much easier than generally tackling things like the obesity crisis and poor health, which is a large part of why we our figures are poorer than elsewhere; and so much easier than expanding capacity over the last decade when it was clear that a rapidly ageing population meant that at some point one winter the NHS was going to buckle, pandemic or not. Every year the NHS buckles over winter. Things are only very marginally worse now than they usually are in January, yet this January, unlike in the past, the government had 10 months to organise themselves and instead faffed around with Nightingales, T and T etc. They are a shower, and wasting energy frothing about a few people sitting on benches is exactly what they want everyone to do.

@Nishky

Where in that website does it say about only having to give details if you have broken the law. Please screenshot that bit.

Read it again. You don't have to give your details and they can't arrest you for that. If there was another reason ie they had seen you commit a crime or someone else had, or had any other evidence they could arrest you.

I'm going for a walk today. I may sit on a bench. I bloody hope I don't have to justify it to the police!

@SquirtleSquad

She was arrested for failing to provide her details when officers attempted to issue a fine. This is very local to me and has been explained time and time again.

You dont have to give your details.

@thefallthroughtheair
Exactly.
Sitting on a bench on your own , on a freezing cold January day
Is not and never should be a crime.
Good lord!
Can we sink any lower than the depths we’ve already sunk to

Having spent zillions of hours researching conspiracy theorists I concur 100% with the article in the Bournemouth Daily Echo that the "sittting on a bench" woman was part of an organised event focussing on non-compliance with covid rules.

The thing that alerted me to this, prior to the news article , was the ranting of the nearby person (behind the camera?) who shouted that the police are disgusting and also shouted at them to "choose your side!"

This same "choose your side" battle cry was directed towards cops attempting to deal with furious mobs of conspiracy theorists at various related protest marches where the police were falsely accused of being paedophiles by Qanon promoters.

I think it highly likely that this was in fact a set up that was staged with the aim of this woman and / or her friends being arrested so that they could upload film to social media and claim that we are living in a police state.

I feel sorry for the police being filmed, ridiculed and disrespected as part of some horrible propaganda campaign.

The people who organise these protests really are despicable, dangerous and they know exactly what they are doing. Like any clever bully they specilaise in manipulating vulnerable people to do their dirty work and also in victim playing.

Typically they provoke the police and then, when the police repond in a robust manner, they scream that they are being victimised.

They disgust me.

They will have politely reminded her of the current rules and asked her to move, with a much less polite response, several times before it came to handcuffs.

Police officers are not automatically reasonable. Look at the people unlawfully killed in US police custody by officers who abuse their power and think themselves above the law because they're tasked with upholding it. Do you imagine that there aren't police officers in the UK with a similar mindset?

Now, I don't know what happened here. I do know that once we decide that an action must have been reasonable because a police officer took it, we are at risk of finding ourselves in a very dangerous position.

@TrustTheGeneGenie I don’t need to read it again- it says the police cannot arrest you solely for not giving details. That is completely different to only being obliged to give details ‘if you have broken the law’

What are they going to do, hold criminal trials there and then in the street?

If anyone wants to read the polices story.

[quote Nishky]@TrustTheGeneGenie I don’t need to read it again- it says the police cannot arrest you solely for not giving details. That is completely different to only being obliged to give details ‘if you have broken the law’

What are they going to do, hold criminal trials there and then in the street?[/quote]
Ok then, you don't need to give your details at all. Why did they feel they could arrest her then?

The notorious charity scammer and organiser of various conspiracy themed protests, Belinda McKenzie, can be seen in the below video accusing the police of hurting children by arresting protesters.

This vile woman is an expert in deflecting attention from her own sinister activities by making false accusations (inclding of satanic ritual abuse) against completely innocent people.

Why would any person concerned with child welfare take kids to an anti-vaxx / qanon etc themed protest in the middle of a deadly pandemic?

The relevant bit is at 26.25

Vile victim playing

It's incredibly disturbing how many posters seem to think "Women Not Being Nice Enough To Men" is a crime, and are perfectly happy with that.

Female compliance is NOT something that should be controlled by law. That's literally Gilead territory.

"She wasn't arrested because she'd broken a law, she was arrested for arguing with the police who were harassing her despite her not having broken a law" - sorry but arguing or "being a dick" are not crimes, and women's niceness and compliance should not be literally policed. Obviously if someone is violent or threatening towards police that's different, but simply being "argumentative" (most of the time "argumentative" simply means knowing your rights and standing up for yourself).

I was a victim of domestic violence aged 12, and the police put 100% of the blame on me for being "argumentative" just because I wasn't playing the role of demure meek ickle good girl, and went out of their way to placate and calm down a violent predator. White men can be overtly aggressive or even violent towards police and get away with it, while a woman can't even calmly state, "I am doing X because of Y, and thus am not breaking the law" without being accused of being argumentative and difficult.

Over first lockdown two of my friends, who are disabled, were harassed by police for briefly pausing to rest on the way home from the supermarket. They physically were not capable of walking the entire way home without resting. They got called "argumentative" and told the harassment was their fault too, just for saying "I'm disabled and can't carry the shopping home without stopping to rest half way."

That woman was arrested for being a Dick basically

Which, to the best of my knowledge, is not a crime. 90% of the folk on here are dicks, including me every now and then!

@hoodathunkit
You may be right I don’t know
But 13 police officers in a recreational area sounds very much like overkill to me
The video was posted by Martin Costello btw

@TheMarzipanDildo

Oh ffs. What about elderly people walking to the shop and back?

Not this again. They are allowed to go for food, they are allowed to go for the newspaper, they're allowed to go for a crate of beer if they can carry it. Age doesn't come into it. Stop worrying about other people and worry about yourself.

@OhamIreally

They don't seem to be arresting any men.

Maybe the men are not out socialising with friends as much. Going out for a coffee or shopping with friends is more what women do isn't it?

Men are more likely to be out on a bike ride with another man or going for a walk.

@NiceLegsShameAboutTheFace

That woman was arrested for being a Dick basically

Which, to the best of my knowledge, is not a crime. 90% of the folk on here are dicks, including me every now and then!

You're forgetting women aren't allowed to have opinions and answer back. While I think men get a rougher deal from the police in some respects (especially if they aren't white), crimes against women aren't taken seriously. And they're definitely an easy target for telling what to do.

@rosetylersbiggun

It's incredibly disturbing how many posters seem to think "Women Not Being Nice Enough To Men" is a crime, and are perfectly happy with that.

Female compliance is NOT something that should be controlled by law. That's literally Gilead territory.

"She wasn't arrested because she'd broken a law, she was arrested for arguing with the police who were harassing her despite her not having broken a law" - sorry but arguing or "being a dick" are not crimes, and women's niceness and compliance should not be literally policed. Obviously if someone is violent or threatening towards police that's different, but simply being "argumentative" (most of the time "argumentative" simply means knowing your rights and standing up for yourself).

I was a victim of domestic violence aged 12, and the police put 100% of the blame on me for being "argumentative" just because I wasn't playing the role of demure meek ickle good girl, and went out of their way to placate and calm down a violent predator. White men can be overtly aggressive or even violent towards police and get away with it, while a woman can't even calmly state, "I am doing X because of Y, and thus am not breaking the law" without being accused of being argumentative and difficult.

Over first lockdown two of my friends, who are disabled, were harassed by police for briefly pausing to rest on the way home from the supermarket. They physically were not capable of walking the entire way home without resting. They got called "argumentative" and told the harassment was their fault too, just for saying "I'm disabled and can't carry the shopping home without stopping to rest half way."

That’s just awful and with disabled hate crime on the increase it’s terrible that police would do such a thing.

My 11 year old has hyper mobility and she couldn’t walk long distances without resting her legs.

I feel sad to see how low we’ve sunk.

This isn’t about a virus , it’s about control of the population.
Why, I’ve no idea .