Britain is experiencing increasing tension over the murder of Sarah Everard in London, and a police officer was accused of killing her.
The British police were widely criticized inside the country for using force to disperse a demonstration of women organized in the London dog area on Saturday to demand safety in the streets and an end to violence against women.
It was originally scheduled to organize similar campaigns in light of the Everard murder in various British cities yesterday under the slogan “Take back these streets!”, But the police prevented their organization, claiming it violated the restrictions imposed to limit the spread of the Corona virus.
Despite the ban, several hundreds of women gathered in their dogs yesterday evening, and the police tried to disperse the demonstration, which led to the outbreak of clashes at the site, where the police used force methods against some of the demonstrators.
https://youtu.be/k4kD0COrQns
Appalling scenes at Clapham Common last night. Women at a peaceful vigil about male violence being violently manhandled and hand cuffed by police officers #SarahEverard #ReclaimTheseStreets pic.twitter.com/fHBpa6qQpg
— Diane Abbott MP (@HackneyAbbott) March 14, 2021
Police said they arrested four people “in order to ensure the safety of people.”
The actions of the police during the demonstration drew criticism in the United Kingdom, where many political and social figures expressed their condemnation of it.
Home Secretary Priti Patel asked the police to prepare a report on what happened, while London Mayor Sadiq Khan stressed that the sightings of their dogs were totally unacceptable and that he was awaiting “urgent explanations” from the police chief, Cressida Duck.
The scenes from Clapham Common are unacceptable. The police have a responsibility to enforce Covid laws but from images I've seen it's clear the response was at times neither appropriate nor proportionate. I'm contact with the Commissioner & urgently seeking an explanation.
— Sadiq Khan (@SadiqKhan) March 13, 2021
Everard, 33, disappeared in London late on the night of the third of March, and her body was later found in Kent, near the capital.
The crime in the United Kingdom sparked widespread reactions similar to that of the killing of African American George Floyd by a police officer in the United States last year.
Source: BBC