The Met Police and the threatening signs

[ArabellaScott]

Looks like both the Policing Minister and Junior Minister are not happy about the Met claiming there were no threatening signs at last weekends' protests.

'Officers from the London force told Dame Diana Johnson, the policing minister, that no threatening signs were on display at Saturday’s demonstration in Parliament Square. This led her to insist in interviews that there was no evidence the law had been broken.
In fact, several were visible, including two with hangmen and slogans such as “the only good terf is a ---- one”, implying gender-critical feminists should die.
Another urged opponents to perform a “DIY lobotomy” on themselves, while one appeared to show bullet holes alongside the message: “I will make you listen.”

Chris Philp, the shadow policing minister, described the Met’s “misleading” briefing as “deeply alarming” and added that any suggestion of unequal treatment of protesters risked fuelling accusations of “two-tier policing.”
He said: “It is deeply alarming that the Met Police provided misleading information both to the Government and journalists. The Police are quick to jump on certain protesters, they should be just as vigilant about these ones, or we risk two-tier policing.
“Threats of violence towards women by pro-trans protesters are completely unacceptable, and the perpetrators should be identified and prosecuted.”'

As is widely known, Jo Grady of the UCU shared a picture of one of the 'hangman' signs herself on X.

<a class="break-all" href="https://archive.ph/2025.04.24-050600/www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2025/04/24/police-misled-minister-about-violent-threats-trans-protest" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://archive.ph/e6LD6

Ach, sorry, seems something keeps corrupting the archive link.

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2025/04/24/police-misled-minister-about-violent-threats-trans-protest/

I do want this broadcast loud and fucking clear, throughout the UK.

Threats of violence towards women by pro-trans protesters are completely unacceptable, and the perpetrators should be identified and prosecuted.

For years, it's been apparently tacitly accepted by police that trans activists are free to intimidate, threaten, abuse women at protests, without any comeback. To the point I was actually surprised to read Chris Philp's comments.

Aberdeen 2023:

'A feminist campaigner was allegedly assaulted by a trans activist during a women's rights rally in Aberdeen on Sunday.

Julie Marshall, of Airdrie, North Lanarkshire, was part of the campaign group Women Won't Wheesht's rally in Duthie Park and alleges she was punched twice by a trans activist after he snatched one of the campaign group's banners.'

(assailant let off with a warning)

https://www.scottishdailyexpress.co.uk/news/scottish-news/feminist-campaigner-left-black-eye-30540007

https://www.thetimes.com/uk/law/article/police-dismiss-complaint-over-assault-at-trans-demonstration-27bvglj02

London 2020:

'A women’s rights rally, held at a venue adjacent to the Grenfell Tower Memorial Wall, has been disrupted by masked protestors who let off flares.
Attendees thought that smoke bombs had been thrown and said a strong smell of smoke distressed people – particularly given the location of the venue. Placards reading ‘Fuck Terfs’, a man with a flashing dummy penis, chanting, and photographing women attending the event were also among protestors’ other tactics.'

https://labourwomensdeclaration.org.uk/press-release-womens-rights-rally-targeted/

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8095107/Thugs-set-smoke-grenades-shadow-Grenfell-Tower-Labour-transgender-rights-row-deepens.html

Glasgow:

'An SNP politician has hit out at a 'decapitate terfs' sign at a pro-trans rally, stating "violent misogyny is hiding in plain sight".

The placard, which also featured an illustration of a guillotine, was pictured during a demonstration outside Glasgow Royal Concert Hall on Saturday.

The rally was held in protest of the UK government's decision to block Holyrood's Gender Recognition Reform (GRR) Bill from being officially signed into law.'

(police 'investigated')

https://news.sky.com/story/scottish-politicians-and-jk-rowling-voice-anger-over-decapitate-terfs-sign-at-pro-trans-rally-in-glasgow-12793544

Brighton, 2019

'AN ANGRY crowd besieged a Woman’s Place UK (WPUK) meeting in Brighton on Monday night, crowding and shouting: “Shame on you” at individuals entering and banging on the windows throughout in an attempt to drown out the speakers.
Protesters chanted that “WPUK is a hate group,” repeating claims by some trans activists that the feminist organisation is hostile to trans people’s rights, an assertion rejected by speakers at the event.
One woman was doused in water as she entered while a young PhD student was reduced to tears and missed most of the subsequent meeting because the “terrifying” experience brought on a panic attack.

(police observed, did not stop the crowd)

https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/f/wpuk-fringe-report

https://www.theargus.co.uk/news/17923150.crowd-protesters-picket-womens-rights-meeting-hours/

London, 2023

'A transgender activist who told a crowd to "punch a terf" has been cleared of intentionally encouraging the commission of an offence.
Sarah Jane Baker made the comment at a Trans+Pride rally in the capital, City of London Magistrates' Court heard.
Her remarks were captured on video during the march, from Trafalgar Square to Wellington Arch, on 8 July.'1

The Met's first response to this:

'A Mumsnet user reported the latest incident to the police, and received a response from Acting Police Sergeant Warner saying:
“This is not a hate crime. A TERF is not a protected characteristic under the legislation. A TERF would be a person’s opinion, whether this opinion is viewed as discriminatory in itself or not.
“The female is suggesting (inciting) members of the crowd to punch individuals who act on this belief. This is not targeted at an individual, this is in a hypothetical situation.” '2

1 https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-66676737
2 https://sex-matters.org/posts/updates/incitement-to-violence-at-trans-pride/

I could go on and on.

For years and years, trans activists have intimidated, threatened, and terrorised women. Apparently with the tacit permission of police.

It has to stop.

Every one of these protests was just women asking for their views to be heard.

The Supreme Court has now said exactly what all of us have been saying for years.

And women have been hounded, attacked, and abused because of it. It's only just starting to dawn on me how extreme and how insane this movement has been.

And I keep seeing organisations putting up trans flags on their profiles and pledging allegiance, with some saccharine bullshit about inclusivity and trans rights.

It’s a cult, these people are brainwashed to the extent that they are unable to think critically. I will never be able to understand how we got here, it’s insanity.

Thank you Arabella for 'keeping the receipts', that's such valuable info you've collated for us.

Not just valuable for questioning the police's lack of action, but also disproving the ubiquitous 'Toxicity on both sides' claim.

Kinell. These Met deniers and their insistence that there were no threatening signs in Parliament Square are starting to sound like the famous Iraqi Information Minister:

• "There are no American infidels in Baghdad. Never!"
• ""They're not even [within] 100 miles [of Baghdad]. This is an illusion ... they are trying to sell to the others an illusion."
• "We will push those crooks, those mercenaries back into the swamp."
• "We have retaken the airport. There are no Americans there. I will take you there and show you. In one hour."

Something about this rap sounds eerily familiar ...

Thought the Met said they were going to tackle their misogyny problem?

That was honestly just the first few that sprung to mind.

For anyone who's been following this for the past TOO FUCKING LONG there have been so many women's meetings that were graffiti'd, bomb threated, cancelled. How many women have been too afraid to even speak to their family, friends, partners about this?

WOMEN HAVE HAD TO MEET IN FUCKIN SECRET.

We've had to make underground networks, to discuss the exact issues raised and discussed in the Supreme Court judgement fgs!

Have the politicians the first fucking clue how absurd this is?!

There is no retreat, we are advancing bravely to the rear!

We don't risk two tier policing, we have two tier policing. And a very serious issue with misogyny, not only in the police but in the NHS, the civil service and many if not most other tax payer funded establishments.

This comes from something called political capture, which has been widely pointed out (and ignored) for years, and is a massive failure of this idea called 'safeguarding', which we actually have a minister of, and 'the Nolan Principles' which like protections in law for women were something Commander Vimes would know of as 'write only documents'.

I say this, posting on an anonymous internet forum, on which I've registered with a burner email, for fuck's sake!

Thanks for posting. I will await the police hunting them down with the same enthusiasm they used with the rioters. I will await the courts sentencing them the same as the rioters. Prisons too full? I await Starmer emptying them like he did for the rioters.

I suspect I will wait a very long time.

It's mad Arabella! Complete madness. I can't believe it's got this far.

I'm also very angry.

But why do the police side with transwomen? I know the police are a complete fucking mess of sexism, misogyny, homophobia and christ knows what else, but you wouldn't think they'd have any more sympathy (or connection, or whatever) with men wanting to be women than they have with actual women. I don't get it.

I wonder if it's worth writing to Chris Philp, with a list of all of the women's meetings and trans activist threats and aggression over the past few years, and asking him to look into the terrorism of the trans activist movement as a matter of urgency? He is quite correct, this is two tier policing, and has been for a very long time.

https://members.parliament.uk/member/4503/contact

Anyone in Croydon South?

He's Shadow HomeSec, can anyone contact him in that capacity?

If so, I'll try and get a comprehensive list of all the protests where police have failed to protect women in the past few years.

What about directly to Kier Starmer, he is my MP. If you compile a list I will complain.

Oh, look, someone's already done it! At least, up until 2023. There will have been more since.

https://sex-matters.org/about-us/what-we-are-up-against/transactivist-violence-a-timeline/

https://sex-matters.org/about-us/what-we-are-up-against/intimidation-threats-and-violence-by-trans-rights-activists/

I guess we're looking for times the police failed to support women when threatened or attacked by trans activists. I'll go through this later and pull relevant incidents.

Maybe send this video? It's of the latest shenanigans

Also, Aja has a short video compilation of the violence and aggression displayed towards LWS and other events here and abroad. It's on her twitter

The misogyny is more important than anything else in the hierarchy of values.

The fact that people bowed and scraped to these shouty men made me realise just how misogynistic society is.

So just the fact that transwomen are basically men then? And yet I'm pretty sure that if they had transwomen colleagues there would be cesspit of bullying and vile jokes against them.

I haven't seen that. Every bit of publicity about transwoman colleagues that I have seen seems to be all about how wonderful they are. The TW seem confident and very proud of themselves.

https://www.met.police.uk/foi-ai/metropolitan-police/d/november-2022/officers-identify-lgbt-as-a-non-cis-gender-identity-working-mps/

They kept getting women's awards and being asked to give keynote speeches on International women's day. I think a lot of men were delighted to be able to deal with male women.

OK, I get it now. Such is their misogyny that they will side with anyone who hates women as much as they do. A case of "my enemy's enemy is my friend".