Sad case. However she went missing there is a need to deal with misogynistic attitudes. Ok
Last night:
People went to Clapham and paid their respects during the day yesterday, went home, grateful for the opportunity to do so. It’s a vigil, some staying longer than others.
As the day went on, more attended. The Police stood back, asking for people to move on after a reasonable period. Many complied. Happy balance, public pay respects , Covid legislation complied with.
What went wrong: people stopped complying, refused to leave. Turned against the obvious target of police present, verbal and active resistance. Now it’s become a protest, with chanting and singing. No longer a vigil, no longer Covid compliant.
What should the Police do, stand back? Allow Covid rules to be broken?
They can’t win.
Take action, get criticised.
Stand back, get criticised.
This won’t bother the Met, they’ve been here a thousand times before.
Their response was necessary to control aggressive resistance of the activists present, who, by the way, can be as violent and aggressive as any man. The media love it, the politicians wade in with absurd calls for the commissioner to quit, not wanting to be the one to go against popular opinion and support police.
Could be the vigil have been allowed with stewarding; possibly?
Would it have stopped it becoming a protest? We don’t know, but with the strength of feeling about women at risk coupled with the presence of activists and the target of police present, more than likely.
The Met responded on the night in a way that was proportionate to the threat they faced. All the media needed to really tip them were some children being Tasered...
Don’t like what happened last night? Then listen to and comply with requests from law enforcement agencies.