Good evening, this is @bencsmoke, Huck’s politics editor. i’m here on clapham common for tonight’s #ReclaimTheseStreets vigil to remember Sarah Everard, who’s body was this week identified in woodland in kent following a weeks long search. 
Everard had been walking home in this area when she was abducted and later murdered. a serving metropolitan police officer, Wayne Couzens, has been charged with her murder.
Tonight’s vigil has been the site of heated legal battles over the last two days. Organisers first approached Lambeth police who responded positively to their request to help facilitate the protest.
Scotland yard, the HQ of the metropolitan police then intervened, alleging the vigil would be unlawful and that organisers risked £10,000 fines each if the event were to go ahead.
A crowdfunder for a legal challenge on this decision reached it’s £30,000 target in just an hour on Thursday night. by this point dozens of similar vigils had been organised across the country.
An emergency hearing in the high court yesterday evening saw a judge rule that protests, enshrined as a right in the human rights act, were not inherently unlawful under coronavirus regulations, but refused to intervene directly in this case.
Despite initial hopes by organisers, the Met stood by their decision, leading to the physical event being officially cancelled this morning, with the vigil moving to a 9:30pm doorstep vigil
Vigils across the country befell a similar fate with organisers forced to cancel for fear of fines and criminal prosecutions.
a spokesperson from @reclaimtssheff told me “We are both heartbroken and angry with the response from South Yorkshire Police and believe fundamentally in our right to gather peacefully and safely. As a group, many of us felt..”
cont. “powerless in hearing the news of Sarah Everard’s death and wanted a space to collectively grieve and reclaim our power. It is shameful that this has been taken away from us, but we want to use the momentum we have now to keep working to reclaim our streets.”
Mishti ali, a student in cambridge who organised a vigil in the city told me “I’m really angry about the event being cancelled. Protest is a human right, and a pandemic doesn’t affect that. I organised the event because Sarah’s case really touched my heart. It’s something that..”
cont. “so many women face, and that shouldn’t be the case. We had #metoo a few years ago, and Reclaim the Night decades ago. These aren’t new concerns, but the only thing we can do is come together in solidarity, work against them and hope things change...”
cont. “I don’t want there to be another supposed ‘watershed moment’ 18 months down the line. I want this to be the end of it.”
Despite the threat of fines and prosecution by police, activist group @sistersuncut tweeted their intention to attend this evening's vigil regardless. Hundreds are here at the Clapham Common bandstand where a minute's silence has been held.
chants of “sisters united will never be defeated” here as speakers shout over the crowd about the realities of being a woman in the UK. There’s chants of “let us speak” and loud boos as it appears that the police confiscate a sound system
There’s chaos here as the police attempt to shutdown the demo, attendees rush through paths in flowers laid at the bandstand at the request of those inside to stop the police. Shouts of “no justice no peace” and “let her speak” ring out in the air.
it’s erupted here as the police try clear the bandstand. it’s unclear whether arrests have been made but chants of “let her go” and “arrest your own” can be heard as thousands of people put their phone lights on, lighting up the police. it’s an incredible image.
there’s a line of police preventing people from gaining access to the bandstand, the crowd, still numbering in the thousands chant “hey mister, get your hands off my sister”. some hold candles, others home made placards.
there’s a lot of anger here as rumours of arrests swirl. someone on a megaphone shouts “we can’t call the police, because they assault us too”, chants of “who do you protect” and “scum” as the crowd faces up against the police.
a man on stage with a megaphone starts denying that there’s a pandemic. he’s shouted down as hundreds chant “let women speak” and someone takes his megaphone from him.
there are scuffles with the police as the crowd chants “police go home” and “lets us speak”.
chants of “who killed sarah, you killed sarah” as more police arrive. there’s pushing and shoving here as they move their way through the crowd.
a speaker on a megaphone says “it is our duty to fight for our freedom, it is our duty to win, we must love and support each other, we have nothing but to lose but our chains”
there are hundreds, perhaps thousands of bunches of flowers left around the bandstand for sarah everard. chants of “how many women? how many more?”
the police have just grabbed someone and look to be arresting them in the bandstand. shouts of “fuck the police” as there are scuffles and some within the crowd throw water over officers.
the crowd have thinned out in points but there are still hundreds of people here and the atmosphere is just as raucous and angry. chants of “murderers” and “shame on you”
more scuffles between the crowd and police. four police officers stand around a young woman they have arrested in the bandstand looking like they’re going to try and move her through the crowd. chants of “let her go” and “arrest your own”
a group of around 20 police officers push through the crowd to take the arrested woman into custody. chants of “97%” heard in reference to the poll which this week revealed that 97% of young women in the uk have been sexually harassed
scuffles here as a group of six police officers run into the crowd and snatch someone standing quietly, chatting to other attendees. more police arrive as the crowd swells around the arrest. people booing and shouting “shame on you”
fights between attendees and the police as the latter try to take someone they’ve just arrested to a van. in the chaos police push people over onto a bench flowers left in memory of sarah everard.
our huck photographer was in the bandstand as it kicked off earlier (photos to come later), he asked a police officer why they were in attendance. they replied “to protect you”. there have been numerous arrests so far (will find out the official number soon).
as the protest here winds down its time to draw our coverage to a close for now. it’s been a chaotic and angry that started with a poignant minute of silence in memory of sarah everard and quickly descended into chaos as the police moved in to shut it down.
as people leave, candles still burn in small collections under trees adjoining the bandstand and anger at the murder of a young woman and the actions of the police tonight hangs heavy in the air. as ever solidarity with all out fighting violence against women this evening ✊🏼
the vigil tonight was extremely chaotic and fast moving and signal was fairly intermittent so i was unable to post any of the videos i captured of the action. below are events as they unfolded...
it started as a sombre and striking affair with thousands gathering at the bandstand joining in a minutes silence to remember sarah everard
as the sun began to set, chants erupted from the crowd. speeches about the endemic violence faced by women were shouted over the crowd.
with darkness falling a sound system arrived and the police moved in to shut the vigil down. the crowd chanted “let her//us speak”
as police moved in to the bandstand which was the epicentre of the vigil, the mood soured and those atop it pleaded for support from within the crowd to bolster their numbers.
as the police began to reportedly make arrests, those in the crowd turned on the lights on their phones and chanted “shame on you”
scuffles broke out as the police continued manhandling those in the bandstand. a legal observer who was in the bandstand at the time described the arrests of at least three young women that they saw as “brutal”
there were clashes between attendees of the demo and police officers as more arrived.
those arrested were led away through the crowd surrounded by large numbers of officers pushing people out of their way.
as the bandstand was cleared, groups of officers began snatching people from the crowd. here is the aftermath of one of those snatches. the person detained was stood chatting with friends at the time.
officers taking those who they’d detained away rushed through the crowd, knocking those trying to prevent the arrest out of the way.
the political fallout from the heavy handed policing of tonight’s vigil has already started with the leader of the labour party tweeting this this evening:
https://twitter.com/keir_starmer/status/1370843855428419584?s=21
https://twitter.com/keir_starmer/status/1370843855428419584
many are shocked by what they saw tonight, one attendee told me “it was vile. if the police hadn’t been there people literally would have paid their respects and left”
elsewhere in the country, there was reportedly violence at a vigil held in brighton, with video footage emerging of police apprehending a young woman after allegedly chasing and kicking her.
https://twitter.com/mseyates/status/1370832324909219840?s=21
https://twitter.com/mseyates/status/1370832324909219840
many are angry tonight. there are those asking why the police thought it appropriate to break up a peaceful vigil for a young woman allegedly murdered by a serving police officer. throughout the night, as the events unfolded over and over attendees shouted, 'let us speak'.
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