After talks between the group that kept watch, Reclaim These Streets, and the police proved fruitless, the organizers went to the courts to try to get permission for the event.
When the Supreme Court refused to intervene, Reclaim These Streets canceled the meeting. Nevertheless, crowds arrived at the park throughout the day, with visitors, including Prince William’s wife, the Duchess of Cambridge, who were among many to lay flowers at a temporary tribute around a band stand.
A turning point appeared to come when people started giving speeches, asking the police to move in and break up the event. Presumably it was because the event changed from a vigilance, which the police seemed willing to tolerate, to a protest they were not.
Adam Wagner, a human rights lawyer who advised Reclaim These Streets, said: “The police created the situation that made it possible to become a riotous disorganized mess and then felt they had to maintain.” He added that if they did not reach an agreement with the group to work together to organize the event and thus manage those who wanted to attend the vigil, the opportunity was lost to exclude others, like protesters against the closure.
In a statement Tuesday, Reclaim These Streets said it lost confidence in me. Dick, the Metropolitan Police Commissioner, who according to the group granted them a meeting of only 15 minutes. “We urged the commissioner to provide a clear answer as to what would be an acceptable form of vigilance under the legislation, and she could not provide an answer,” the statement said, adding that the police’s action was ‘security’. set of women exercising their right to protest in danger. ”
Without a written constitution, Britain’s protection law is based on a general human rights law and on the police’s obligation to use proportionate force. But critics of the coronavirus rules note that the speed with which the regulations were passed by parliament left a legal mess.
Pippa Woodrow, another lawyer who advises Reclaim These Streets, said: ” A lack of clarity was a real problem from the start, and it might have been understandable at first, but we are now a years on this and our laws are still no better. “After the protests were stopped, it seemed that the police felt that they would look contradictory if they continued this vigilance,” she added.