Hackney MPs, councillors and residents have condemned the Metropolitan Police’s handling of the vigil held in memory of Sarah Everard on Clapham Common on Saturday evening.
Diane Abbott, Member of Parliament for Hackney North and Stoke Newington, shared footage of police clashing with protestors and tweeted: “Appalling scenes at Clapham Common last night. Women at a peaceful vigil about male violence being violently manhandled and handcuffed by police officers.”
Appalling scenes at Clapham Common last night. Women at a peaceful vigil about male violence being violently manhandled and hand cuffed by police officers #SarahEverard #ReclaimTheseStreets pic.twitter.com/fHBpa6qQpg
— Diane Abbott MP (@HackneyAbbott) March 14, 2021
After expressing his support for women and girls in a video released by Hackney Council, Hackney mayor Philip Glanville used his unofficial account to criticise Assistant Metropolitan Police Commissioner Helen Ball’s claim that the police had taken necessary action to “protect people’s safety”.
Glanville said Ball’s response was “nowhere near good enough – frankly also typical of their response to criticism for years”.
Nowhere near good enough, frankly also typical of their response to criticism for years. https://t.co/aJtx8u0Glu
— PhilipGlanville (@PhilipGlanville) March 14, 2021
In a joint statement with Hackney’s Labour councillors, released on Tuesday, Glanville added: “We echo the Mayor of London’s words, that the actions of the police toward peaceful women on Saturday was [sic] unacceptable.”
The statement supported the Mayor of London Sadiq Khan in calling for an independent review.
But it implored him to “go further”, broadening the review beyond just Saturday’s events and into an investigation of “why, despite Black Lives Matter and other peaceful protests in the capital, we are still seeing failures by the police to deliver for the communities they seek to protect”.
Glanville and the Labour councillors also reiterated demands that misogyny be made a hate crime.
Yesterday the government announced that police would record, on an experimental basis, crimes of violence motivated by a person’s sex or gender.
After calling on the government to “provide greater clarity on the protections women will enjoy as a result of any legislation”, the statement by Glanville and the Labour councillors nodded to the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill, which went before the House of Commons on Monday and proposes a 10-year prison term for defacing a statue.
“Public space is for people, not statues; we should protect people – no woman should be forced to limit her freedom because of the actions of men,” the statement said.
Under the banner of the growing Reclaim These Streets movement, multiple socially distanced events had been organised across the country to pay tribute to Everard.
However, all were later cancelled after what organisers called “a lack of constructive engagement from Metropolitan police” over how they could be held in a Covid-safe way.
Despite the cancellation, several hundred people gathered on Clapham Common to pay their respects to 33-year-old Everard, whose death has sparked widespread debate over women’s safety.
Everard went missing on 3 March while walking home to Brixton from her friend’s house in Clapham, South London. Her body was found by police a week later in a wooded area of Ashford, Kent, and serving Metropolitan Police officer Wayne Couzens, aged 48, has been charged with her murder and is due to be tried in October.
All day on Saturday people, including the Duchess of Cambridge, had been laying flowers at the bandstand.
Early footage of the event showed a peaceful vigil, with people holding candles or shining their phone torches, sharing stories and paying their respect to women who have lost their lives to male violence.
However, as night fell, videos emerged that showed women being grabbed and manhandled by police officers while onlookers shouted “shame on you” and “let them go”. A photo of a masked woman being pinned to the ground by two police officers went viral on social media.
Police said four arrests were made in the interest of public safety.
Last night, parts of Hackney’s Town Hall were lit up orange in solidarity with all the women and girls affected by male violence and, across the borough, people took to social media to express their anger at the police’s response.
Labour MP for Benthal Green and Bow, Rushanara Ali, described the scenes as “deeply distressing” and tweeted: “Absolutely appalled by the way this has been handled by the [Metropolitan Police] when it could have been so very different. My thoughts are with Sarah Everard and her family tonight.”
Scenes at Clapham vigil this evening are deeply distressing. Absolutely appalled by the way this has been handled by the @metpoliceuk when it could have been so very different.
My thoughts are with #SarahEverard and her family tonight. #ReclaimTheseStreets— Rushanara Ali ? (@rushanaraali) March 13, 2021
Activist Glyn Harries shared a petition calling for Cressida Dick to step down from her job as Metropolitan Police Commissioner, tweeting: “The scenes of women being arrested at Clapham Common Reclaim These Streets vigil for Sarah Everard are shocking – and shameful for the police. Cressida Dick, police commissioner, must resign.”
The scenes of women being arrested at the #ClaphamCommon #ReclaimTheseStreets vigil for Sarah Everard are shocking – and shameful for the police. Cressida Dick, police commissioner, must resign. Sign the petition: https://t.co/AzQ3Cr8rIt
— glyn harries ???????? (@hackneyglyn) March 14, 2021
Hackney’s residents have also been voicing their concerns, especially in light of the aforementioned Crime Bill.
Feyzi Ismail, a Hackney resident who attended a separate vigil at London Fields, responded to the police’s actions in light of the Police, Crime and Sentencing Bill, debated in Parliament this week. She told Hackney Post: “Many people were once again reminded that the police are capable of a disproportionate response to peaceful protest.
“The police don’t need more powers. This is an attack on our democracy and targeted at the people who want to change things – whether it’s the BLM protests, the protestors against climate change, or those who protested yesterday.
“The feeling over violence against women and police brutality is huge, and the way the police attacked the vigil at Clapham Common [on Saturday] was disgusting.”
In a statement, Reclaim These Streets said it was “deeply saddened and angered” by the police’s actions, and added: “Tonight, [the justice system] has failed women again, in the most destructive way.”
The group encouraged women to keep fighting for their voices to be heard.
Additional reporting by Cindy Wei.
