Metropolitan Police

Battle joined to defend democracy

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https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/battle-joined-defend-democracy

Police look on as protesters gather outside the Business and Trade department in London to show solidarity with Palestine, as they campaign against military arms being manufactured in the UK and sent to Israel, May 1, 2024

BATTLE was joined to defend the right to protest today as the government launched a twin-track attack on the Palestine solidarity movement.

Top cabinet minister Michael Gove launched a mendacious smear attack on the pro-Palestine protests while Lord Walney, the government’s “independent adviser” on political disruption, published his long-trailed report full of repressive measures.

Yet even while moving to attack democratic rights, the government was handed a stinging rebuke by High Court judges who ruled today that earlier measures by the Home Office to make it easier to ban protests were unlawful.

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The organisers of the Gaza ceasefire marches have written to the police protesting at the decision to allow an abusive group of Israel supporters to rally within feet of the march last Saturday.

In a letter the six organisations demanded a meeting with Met Commissioner Mark Rowley, saying that “the whole demonstration had to run a frightening gauntlet of abuse, insult and provocation, the aim of which was clearly to create a physical confrontation.

“We want an explanation of how and why this was allowed to happen and an undertaking that future counter protests will be properly policed.”

https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/battle-joined-defend-democracy

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Just Stop Oil supporter who sprayed Scotland Yard sign acquitted

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Just Stop Oil supporter Lora Johnson, 38, was acquitted of criminal damage by a Jury in front of Judge Grieve at Southwark Crown Court today. She was arrested on October 14, 2022, for spraying the iconic, triangular Metropolitan Police sign with orange paint in front of New Scotland Yard during Just Stop Oil’s month of action.

Lora was among the 637 people detained by police during a period of relentless civil resistance that month, demanding that the government halts all new oil and gas licences and consents. A video of Lora’s arrest from two years ago on Westminster Bridge, where she proclaimed that “inaction on climate change is a death sentence for all,” has been viewed more than 11 million times.

Johnson said today:

“I’ve just been found not guilty after six days at Southwark Crown Court by a jury of my peers. The action I took was painting the New Scotland Yard sign orange, in resistance to the government’s genocidal approval of new oil and gas licences.

“I would like to ask the MET police: who are they there to serve and protect? The good people of this country? Or the oil-corrupted government? I would like to ask them how they are planning to police the mass hysteria, the panic, the fear, the looting, the theft, the hoarding and the inevitable violence that will result when our shelves are empty and we can’t feed our children?”

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Met police chief praises ‘professional’ conduct of officer in antisemitism row

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https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2024/apr/22/met-police-chief-praises-professional-conduct-officer-antisemitism-row

Mark Rowley said ‘the wider actions and intent of the officer were professional and in the best tradition of British police trying to prevent disorder’. Photograph: PA Images/Alamy

Exclusive: Mark Rowley says sergeant will not be disciplined and warns of ‘fakery’ by activists at other protests

The commissioner of the Metropolitan police has praised the “professional” conduct of the sergeant who stopped an antisemitism campaigner at a pro-Palestinian march and warned that officers at other protests had been “set up” by activists using “fakery” to undermine the force.

In an interview with the Guardian, Mark Rowley said the sergeant involved in the incident with Gideon Falter would not be disciplined and vigorously defended the Met’s handling of the six months of protests since the 7 October attacks on Israel.

Defying calls for his resignation, Rowley faced a series of crisis meetings on Monday with the two people who could oust him – the home secretary, James Cleverly, and the London mayor, Sadiq Khan – as well as British Jewish groups.

It followed footage emerging of a Met officer telling Falter, of the Campaign Against Antisemitism, that because he was “openly Jewish” he would not be allowed to walk across a pro-Palestinian protest march through central London on 13 April.

A 13-minute video of the exchange shows the officer offering to escort Falter away from the demonstration, and saying he was being disingenuous about his motives for wanting to cross the road at that point.

Speaking just before he went to see the home secretary, Rowley, Britain’s top police officer, said: “The sergeant at the scene clearly assessed that there was a risk of confrontation and was trying to help Mr Falter find a different route. I completely understand why the sergeant made this assessment. A couple of turns of phrase were clumsy and offensive … and we’ve apologised for that.

“The wider actions and intent of the officer were professional and in the best tradition of British police trying to prevent disorder.”

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https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2024/apr/22/met-police-chief-praises-professional-conduct-officer-antisemitism-row

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Why were the red flags ignored?

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https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/why-were-the-red-flags-ignored

People in the crowd turn on their phone torches as they gather in Clapham Common, London, after the Reclaim These Streets vigil for Sarah Everard was officially cancelled, March 13, 2021

Family hit out as report reveals Wayne Couzens reported 8 times to police before Everard killing

MURDERER cop Wayne Couzens was reported to police eight times before he went on to kill Sarah Everard, an inquiry found today.

The review, chaired by Dame Elish Angiolini, found the killer had been carrying out other attacks over the span of decades.

The inquiry traced the former officer’s offences back to 1995 when he allegedly tried to kidnap a woman at knifepoint.

It also found evidence that he committed a “very serious sexual assault against a child” in 2002, and joined Kent Police soon after.

A woman said Mr Couzens raped her in 2006 while he was a special constable, and that he raped a woman in October 2019 while he was an officer with the Met.

Although no allegations reached the police, he was reported to the force for indecent exposure eight times.

But little action was taken and Dame Angiolini said that multiple “red flags” were ignored.

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https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/why-were-the-red-flags-ignored

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Greens call for scaling up actions against Israel, accusing UK government of complicity in killing 

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Image of the Green Party's Carla Denyer on BBC Question Time.
Image of the Green Party’s Carla Denyer on BBC Question Time.

As Israel appears to be on the brink of an all out assault on Rafah, despite warnings against such action by the UN, Red Crescent and others, Green Party co-leader Carla Denyer is demanding the UK scale up actions against the Israeli government until the killing stops. Greens are calling for an end to all arms sales to Israel, prosecutions of war criminals and targeted sanctions on Israel’s leaders. 

Green Party co-leader Carla Denyer said: 

“It is clear that the Israeli government is refusing to heed warnings about the catastrophic implications of an all-out attack on Rafah. The UK government must now demand that Israel stop the killing, calling for an immediate ceasefire. Hamas must also agree to this ceasefire of course, and release all hostages.  

“Decisions made by the UK government – above all its failure, month after month, to call for an immediate ceasefire – have made them complicit in the killing of almost 28,000 people to date, 12,000 of whom are children.

“Israel relies on certain weapon parts manufactured in the UK, including the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter whose essential components are made here.

A Dutch court has today ordered the state to cease the export of F-35 spare parts to Israel. We call on the UK government to follow suit, and suspend all arms export licences to Israel until the killing stops. The UK must also cease all military collaboration with Israel, including allowing Israeli use of British bases and RAF intelligence flights over Gaza.

“Greens would also implement the requirements of the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions campaign across the UK economy. This would include excluding Israel from international sporting and music events; withdrawing all public money from funds with investments in Israel; and ending beneficial trade arrangements with Israel.

“It is clear that only outside pressure will make Israel stop its mass killing. We can increase the pressure on Israeli leaders by introducing targeted sanctions against key individuals. This would include travel bans and asset freezes on Israel’s leadership and cabinet members, in particular those calling for new settlements in Gaza and the annexation of the West Bank. 

“Finally, we would encourage UK authorities including the Metropolitan Police and Director of Public Prosecutions to pursue perpetrators of war crimes committed where UK citizens are the victims or where UK citizens are potential perpetrators. 

“There are many steps the UK government could take to pressure Israel to stop the killing. Its refusal to do so means that they are implicitly condoning the appalling carnage in Gaza.” 

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