Yesterday marked one of the most shameful days in the history of the Metropolitan Police as they arrested peaceful protesters including a blind man in a wheelchair, an 81-year-old woman with Parkinson's, a former British army officer, and a bunch of, um, Quakers.

Yesterday marked one of the most shameful days in the history of the Metropolitan Police as they arrested peaceful protesters including a blind man in a wheelchair, an 81-year-old woman with Parkinson’s, a former British army officer, and a bunch of, um, Quakers. All of them were protesting against two things: the UK’s ongoing participation in the Gaza genocide and the proscription of Palestine Action. All of them were arrested under the Terrorism Act.

Imagine being the police officer whose job it was to wheel this man away. You can see the shame in his face as he lowers his head. These officers must know history is not going to judge them kindly, but they must also know just following orders is not okay. If I was a police officer, I would not have made those arrests, even if it cost me my job. Doing the right thing is infinitely more important than just following orders.

Yesterday police made twice the number of counter-terrorism arrests than they did in all of 2023 and one-fifth of those arrested were over 70. One police officer was wearing a hat that suggested he came from a Welsh police force. Remember this when police say they can’t send any officers out after you’ve been burgled. Police are dealing with the real criminals now, and the real criminals include quakers. Yes, quakers were arrested.

  • FishFace@lemmy.world
    23·
    6 hours ago

    The proscription of Palestine Action is ridiculous and shameful.

    But so is this article. If you turned up in support of ISIS then you should be arrested whether you’re old or young, blind, deaf, in a wheelchair, doing cartwheels, or anything else. Disabled people are capable of supporting terrorist organisations and to pretend this is absurd is to miss the point and cynically look for sympathy where it won’t be found. Not only that, but being arrested for supporting a terrorist organisation doesn’t mean you’re “considered a terrorist.”

    Criticise the actual problem - that the Terrorism Act gave the Secretary of State authoritarian powers that it never should have, and she has now used those powers to ban a group that protested a genocidal war through non-violent direct action.