The response was that they didn’t give a shit
The police just stood by at the WPUK meeting in Brighton, doing nothing while “activists” kicked the windows and shouted.
The meeting was disrupted by continual loud banging on the windows and chanting, to the point where there was a fear some windows might be broken and the excellent speech by
@rebelyarns was almost drowned out #WPUKLab19I have never experienced such a level of threat, and I’ve been to a lot of feminist meetings. This was not a peaceful protest, it was an attempt to prevent the meeting going ahead, and it persisted throughout the equally excellent talk from @OnjaliRauf
The response from @sussex_police was inadequate to the point of negligence. Women’s right in law to congregate peacefully was not upheld by the police, who allowed a physically aggressive mob to continue their actions unopposed
It seems like the @sussex_police have been rainbow-washed to the point that the rights of women in Brighton are no longer being upheld and protected by the police. We have no law on our side in this city and we have no women-only services left either
I challenged several police officers on my way out as to why a woman’s right to hold a peaceful meeting was not being enforced by the police in attendance, and I can only report that the response was that they didn’t give a shit
I can also report that the meeting was a huge success and that the mob outside only doubled our resolve to talk and be heard. Brilliant women talked brilliantly. You can never stop us doing that.
After looking at Julie Bindel’s video it seems to me that the Sussex Police wanted to protect the protesters from being approached and videoed. So they enabled the protesters and let them basically get away with it, free of any consequences, despite the obvious threat and disruption that was directed to those attending the WPUK meeting.
Get The L Out UK responded today by posting photos of the Brighton Police supporting Trans Pride 2016. From the comments today: