Police say the republican demonstrators had been conspiring to “trigger a public nuisance”
Law enforcement officials arrested a lot of anti-monarchy demonstrators and seized protest placards forward of the coronation of King Charles III on Saturday. The protesters say they need to have the ability to select their head of state.
London’s Metropolitan Police mentioned on Saturday morning that “a big police operation” was underway in central London. Shortly afterwards, the power introduced that it had arrested 4 folks “on suspicion of conspiracy to trigger a public nuisance,” and one other three “on suspicion of possessing articles to trigger legal harm.” The primary group had been present in possession of “lock-on gadgets,” police mentioned.
“Public nuisance” was made a legal offense underneath controversial protest legal guidelines introduced in final yr, whereas “locking on” – a tactic popularized by local weather activists – was criminalized when a separate public order invoice got here into power earlier this week.
Republic, an anti-monarchy group, mentioned that its chief and 5 key organizers had been amongst these arrested, and that lots of of the group’s placards had been seized by police. The Alliance of European Republican Actions – which opposes monarchies throughout the continent – posted a video to social media displaying Republic’s chief, Graham Smith, being detained.
Different pictures and movies present officers seizing bundles of placards studying ‘Not My King’ and taking banners off protesters at Trafalgar Sq., the place lots of of demonstrators had gathered to oppose the coronation of Britain’s new monarch. As Charles III was topped inside Westminster Abbey, the group at Trafalgar Sq. chanted “down with the crown” and “get an actual job.”
MAJOR BREAKINGREPUBLICANS PLANNING TO PEACEFULLY PROTEST ARE BEING ARRESTED IN CENTRAL LONDON AND MATERIALS CONFISCATED.MORE INFO AS SOON AS WE HAVE IT.SOLIDARITY WITH @RepublicStaffpic.twitter.com/yT1gmYYpcU
— Labour for a Republic 🌹🗳️ (@Labour4Republic) Might 6, 2023
“As an alternative of a coronation we wish an election. As an alternative of Charles we wish a alternative. It’s that straightforward,” Republic tweeted earlier than the ceremony started.
Trafalgar Sq. was a symbolic location for the protest. Other than its location alongside the coronation procession route, the sq. is residence to a statue of King Charles I, who was executed in 1649 after the English Civil Battle. England was briefly a republic after his demise, earlier than the monarchy was restored in 1660 with the coronation of his son, Charles II.
Elsewhere in London, police arrested “round 20” local weather protesters affiliated with the ‘Simply Cease Oil’ group, the group mentioned. Claiming that the protesters had no plans of disrupting the coronation and easily deliberate on revealing t-shirts with the group’s identify written on them, a Simply Cease Oil spokesperson described the police operation as “a dystopian nightmare.”
