Daily rebellion newsletter from XRUK
Pop the kettle on, ‘Authoritarian Regime’ is starting
By day 3, the Rebellion has fully warmed up: we’ve seen bold and beautiful actions all over the place. And yet, as we bring more love, the police bring more aggression.
At Lambeth Bridge we saw the most shocking scenes of this Rebellion so far. During a critical mass bike ride, a swarm of police vans rushed in and kettled over 200 peaceful protestors. The Met held rebels in the rain for hours, searched and arrested everyone (including bystanders, independent legal observers and welfare rebels) and confiscated hundreds of bikes. Full story below.
Sadly, this unwarranted aggression is in no way an exception. Whether it’s misinformation, disproportionate use of force, or straight-up racism, this country’s police is once again being employed in an attack on our civil liberties.
We know that many officers are lovely people – with some even questioning their role – but in terms of policy, it’s looking like we’re on the path to Belarus.
As one person on Lambeth Bridge described as she awaited ‘processing’, more frightening than the process or even the climate science is the thought that “We are up against a wall that doesn’t want to hear the truth”. This writer finds it scary too.