The fallout from Saturday night’s clash in a park in south London between police and mourners on a vigil for the alleged victim Sarah Everard, is rapid and there is an increasing appeal to the police chief to retire.
Metropolitan Police Chief Cressida Dick told Sky News that she would not be leaving her post and that the circumstances surrounding Everard’s death inspired her to continue.
KATE MIDDLETON VISITS REMEMBER
Everard, a 33-year-old marketing manager, left the home of a friend in south London around 3pm on March 3 at around 9pm. She never got there. Police confirmed on Friday that a body hidden in the forest 50 km southeast of the city belonged to her.
Police in London on Tuesday arrested a member of the parliamentary and diplomatic protection commander as a suspect in the case. Late Friday, police charged the officer, Constable Wayne Couzens, with kidnapping and murder. Couzens, 48, was due to appear in court on Saturday.
A crowd of people ignored the COVID-19 restrictions on Saturday night and gathered to mourn the woman’s suspected murder and use the tragedy to underscore the dangers women face in the city. Some in the crowd held signs with messages such as: ‘We will not be silenced’, ‘We live in fear’ and ‘Women’s rights are human rights’, while others uttered slogans against the police.
Officers have been sharply criticized after images surfaced of police aggressively ‘man-dealing’ and handcuffed troublemakers over the night vigil. The New York Times reports that hundreds of protesters in a park in Clapham shouted at police, “Arrest your own!” and “Hey sir, pull my sister down.”
The Times wrote that the police “wrestled shocked young women to the ground, the London Metropolitan Police could hardly have given a better example of what women were protesting if they had deliberately decided to do so.”
The Financial Times reports that Sir Ed Davey has appealed to Dick to offer her resignation immediately.
“People want ministers to act decisively and not play time waiting for reports. It is already clear that what happened last night was a total tactical and moral failure by the Met police,” he said.
Fox News’ Brie Stimson and Associated Press Contributed to This Report