Police state London

They what???

Met Police officers have arrested anti-monarchy protesters in central London ahead of the King’s Coronation. The leader of anti-monarchy group Republic has been arrested and the force said it had detained multiple people in the City of Westminster.

They are held on suspicion of breaching the peace, conspiracy to cause public nuisance and possessing articles to cause criminal damage, the force said. Republic said hundreds of their placards had also been seized.

“A significant police operation is under way in central London,” the force said on Twitter. Footage on social media showed officers using their powers under the new Public Order Act.

Chief executive of anti-monarchy group Republic, Graham Smith, was among those apprehended in St Martin’s Lane near Trafalgar Square. Pictures showed protesters in yellow “Not My King” T-shirts, including Mr Smith, having their details taken. In one video an officer said: “I’m not going to get into a conversation about that, they are under arrest, end of.”

Arrested for being anti-monarchist in public. It’s breathtaking.

The Met confirmed that four people were arrested on suspicion of conspiracy to cause a public nuisance on St Martin’s Lane and that lock-on devices were seized.

What about the coronation itself? That’s a massive public nuisance, but we don’t see “The Met” arresting people on suspicion of planning to clog up central London for hours.

I honestly didn’t know it was illegal to be anti-monarchy in the UK.

Footage from the scene also showed about 15 protesters being handcuffed and taken away by a heavy police presence.

On Wednesday the Met said that it would have an “extremely low threshold” for protests during the coronation celebrations, and that demonstrators could expect “swift action”.

Why? What right do they have to do that? How are demonstrations illegal and deserving of “swift action” in the form of aggressive arrest? The Beeb shows a photo of a guy being carried off like a sack of potatoes.

The police carried out their threat to arrest people for protesting.

Dozens of people have been arrested during the King’s Coronation, including the leader of a prominent anti-monarchy group. London’s Metropolitan Police said 52 arrests were made for a range of reasons, and all remain in custody.

The arrest of anti-monarchy protesters earlier in the day has been labelled “alarming” by human rights groups. The Met said it “understands” public concern, but that officers had acted proportionally under the law.

“Protest is lawful and it can be disruptive,” Commander Karen Findlay, leading the day’s operation, said – pointing to numerous protests that had been policed without any arrests. Officers, she said, have a duty to intervene “when protest becomes criminal and may cause serious disruption. This depends on the context. The Coronation is a once in a generation event and that is a key consideration in our assessment.”

Well it shouldn’t be. The coronation is a public display of monarchism, and the police have no business imposing monarchism on people who object to it. Police enforcing monarchism underlines what a bad idea monarchism is.

Police said the 52 arrests were made for offences including affray, public order offences, breach of the peace and conspiracy to cause a public nuisance. A breakdown provided later revealed that 32 – or about 60% – were arrested on suspicion of conspiracy to cause a public nuisance.

The coronation is a public nuisance! Arrest the people who planned that!

Ugh, it’s so toadying and belly-crawling and repellent.

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