Hundreds of Hackney residents gathered peacefully at a vigil held for Sarah Everard at London Fields Lido on Saturday.
In contrast to the event held at Clapham Common at the same time, where police arrested four people for breaching coronavirus restrictions, the eight police at London Fields had no confrontation with the crowd.
They did not intervene when someone from the crowd briefly chanted “fuck the police, no justice, no peace”.
People spread out in the park in front of the banner of feminist group Woman’s Strike, which read “Remembering Means Fighting”. They held candles and phone lights, showing solidarity and silently protesting for the safety of women.
Earlier the Metropolitan Police had advised against large gatherings, following a court judgment.
Commander Catherine Roper, the Met’s lead for community engagement, said she understood the need to convey “strength of feeling” but reiterated that large crowds posed a risk of Covid-19 infection.
She said: “Today’s ruling in the High Court has confirmed that the Metropolitan Police may conclude that attendance at a large gathering could be unlawful. In light of this ruling, our message to those who were looking to attend vigils in London this weekend, including at Clapham Common, is stay at home or find a lawful way to express your views.”
However, many donned masks and went to London Fields vigil to pay their respects to Everard, who went missing on 3 March while walking from Clapham to her house in Brixton. Her remains were found a week later in woodland in Ashford, Kent.
Serving Metropolitan Police officer, Wayne Couzens, has been charged with her murder. He appeared in court today at the Old Bailey and a provisional trial date has been set for October.
Among those paying their respects at London Fields was Grace, who said that it is “ridiculous” the police had told people not to come to the vigils “considering what has happened”. Her friend Shaunna felt she “had to show empathy and female solidarity for the situation”.
Feyzi Ismail, a Hackney resident who also went to the London Fields vigil, asserted that “not going was not an option” for her, even after the police urged people not to go.
“I would have liked to go to the vigil in Clapham but I wanted to support something local as well,” she said. “For those who can come out onto the streets, it was important to organise a collective action – to come together and grieve but also to show our anger and that what happened is unacceptable.”
She added: “A woman was murdered by a serving police officer while walking home – it could have been any of us. We have the right to hold a vigil.”
Sarah Keith lives near Victoria Park and said she completely understood the sentiment behind the chants considering the “history of police violence in this country”. She thinks they are just a “product of anger at an institution which is meant to protect us – and continues to fail to do so”.
Keith said another reason for her attendance at the vigil was the upcoming Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill. Critics have claimed the Bill omits measures to reduce violence against women and girls, and Keith described it as “extremely concerning and clearly aimed at curtailing the right to protest”.
“We will not be stopped from demonstrating peacefully,” she said. “Women are right to be angry.”
Many of those who could not physically attend the vigil in London Fields held doorstep vigils to pay tribute to Everard.
Keith added: “A doorstep vigil is a nice gesture but nothing changes unless we gather en masse where we can actually demonstrate the wide support for change and feeling of anger at the prevalence of men’s violence against women.”
Gatherings in Everard’s memory had also been planned across the UK by the Reclaim These Streets movement, including in London at Priory Park and Walthamstow Town Square.
