LONDON – Conflicts between London Metropolitan Police officers and crowds on a vigil for a murdered woman have sparked widespread criticism by activists and politicians from across the spectrum.
Hundreds of people gathered in a park in south London on Saturday to honor Sarah Everard, 33, whose disappearance and death has hit the country and sparked a national debate about violence against women.
Wayne Couzens, an elite officer in the London Metropolitan Police’s diplomatic protection command, was charged with his murder on Friday.
A vigil was organized on Saturday by the women’s rights group Reclaim the Streets, but later canceled the event when a judge refused to intervene in a legal challenge over his right to meet during coronavirus restrictions. Currently, only two people from different families are allowed to meet in a public space in the UK, while bars, restaurants and most shops remain closed.
However, hundreds of people attended the park. Many brought flowers and some held up signs saying, “She was coming home.” Among them was Kate Middleton, the Duchess of Cambridge.
As the sunlight faded, the once peaceful climate changed and the police grabbed several women in the crowd, pulling them and handcuffing them.
Some in the crowd booed, scoffed and shouted “shame” to the policemen patrolling the event and a small minority of people started shouting at the policemen, pushing and throwing items, said Metropolitan Police Assistant Commissioner Helen Ball in a statement earlier Sunday.
Four people were arrested, she said.
“We absolutely did not want to be in a position where enforcement action was necessary,” added Ball. “But we were placed in this position because of the overriding need to protect people’s safety.”
But police actions have been widely criticized.
London Labor Party Mayor Sadiq Khan said on Twitter that while officials had a responsibility to enforce Covid-19 restrictions at the rally, it was clear that his response “was sometimes neither appropriate nor proportionate”.
Calling the scenes “disturbing”, UK Conservative Interior Secretary Priti Patel said in a statement that it required a Full report about what happened to the force.
On Twitter, Liberal Democratic opposition leader Ed Davey called Ball’s comments dull tone. “Folding down” was not the right answer, he said.
Reclaim the Streets said in a statement that they were “deeply saddened and irritated” by the police response, adding that the force should have understood that women would need a place to reflect, show solidarity and mourn Everard’s death.
The marketing executive disappeared while walking home from a friend’s home on March 3. His body was found hidden in a forest area in Kent, more than 50 miles southeast of London, on Wednesday.
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Her disappearance caused shock waves across the country and thousands of women turned to social media to talk about the harassment they were subjected to, security issues and the failure of the criminal justice system to prosecute crimes committed against women.
A recent report by UN Women, an organ for gender equality and women’s empowerment, showed that more than 70% of women of all ages in the United Kingdom suffered some form of sexual harassment in a public space.
Everard’s case resonated with women around the world because what happened to her was the worst case scenario, Jamie Klingler of Reclaim These Streets told NBC News on Saturday.
“It is the absolute fear that you can do everything right and still end up in the worst situation because a man has committed this violence against you,” she added.
The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.
Molly Hunter contributed.