Sarah Everard: London police chief faces calls to resign after officers smash

Throughout the day, mourners had flocked to the bandstand of Clapham Common, an area where Everard was last seen, in a tribute to her life. But they also came in an act of solidarity, as an acknowledgement of the shared, omnipresent experience of intimidation, violence and harassment that women constantly face in public spaces.

Less than an hour after the gathering began, officers moved in to inform people that they were breaching Covid-19 regulations and had to leave. Then, a predominantly male cluster of officers moved in, using containment and corralling techniques — where officers surround demonstrators to keep them in a particular place, making social-distancing impossible — ordering people to leave, or face arrest and fines.

As police officers forcibly removed women from the bandstand and dropped others face down to the floor in arrest, attendees chanted “Shame on you,” “Arrest your own,” and “Who do you protect?”

In a statement on Sunday morning, the Met Police said they “absolutely did not want to be in a position where enforcement action was necessary,” but that “we were placed in this position because of the overriding need to protect people’s safety.”

Home Office minister Victoria Atkins addressed a now-viral photograph of one of the women who had been pinned down by police officers during an interview on Sky News on Sunday morning, saying it is “something that the police will have to explain in that report to the Home Secretary.”

Atkins added that the “very upsetting scenes” were being “taken very seriously” by the British government.

Her comments come as videos on social media and news agencies continue to surface, showing attendees scuffling with police.

Several UK leaders across party divides have agreed that the police response was disproportionately harsh.

London Mayor Sadiq Khan said on Twitter that “The scenes from Clapham Common are unacceptable. The police have a responsibility to enforce Covid laws but from images I’ve seen it’s clear the response was at times neither appropriate nor proportionate,” adding that he was in contact with the Commissioner and “urgently seeking an explanation.”

Labour Party leader Keir Starmer called the scenes in Clapham “deeply disturbing.”

“Women came together to mourn Sarah Everard — they should have been able to do so peacefully,” he said, adding that he shared their “anger and upset at how this has been handled.”

“This was not the way to police this protest,” Starmer said.

The leaders of the Liberal Democrat party agreed, joining a growing chorus that have called on the Metropolitan…