Thread by @ProfColinDavis

The arrest of charity volunteers raises serious questions about the role (& perhaps collusion) of rightwing media, police & politicians in the demonisation of protesters. This thread will report my attempts to piece together what happened & what it means. dailymail.co.uk/news/royals/ar…

The story starts with the Mail on Sunday, which ran a front page story on 23 April warning its readers about a a "vile plot" by "extremists" to use rape alarms to scare horses on Coronation Day. "Senior security sources" worried it could cause "serious injuries or even deaths".

The article initially attributes the plot to "Militant protesters". It then mentions organisers' fear of disruption by Just Stop Oil & reminds readers of other disruptive JSO actions. It also mentions Republic. dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1…

Any casual reader - indeed, even a fairly careful reader - would draw the implication that there was a serious plan to disrupt the coronation with rape alarms & that "eco-activists" were behind this plan (possibly with the assistance of republicans). The truth was very different.

The Mail didn't miss the opportunity to get reactions from politicians, who responded as if to something that had actually occurred. Jacob Rees-Mogg said: ‘This is not legitimate protest – this is hooliganism with a veneer of protest.’ A former grenadier likened it to "terrorism"

Much of the outrage engendered by this story relates to the targeting of innocent animals. But this was also one of the things that made the story so improbable. Manyof those taking part in Just Stop Oil actions are vegan --they are not going to plan actions that targets animals.

(Indeed, members of JSO & Animal Rising would say that there's a fundamental problem with the presence of horses at a public event with gun salutes, jets, large crowds etc. If you're really concerned about horses being spooked, don't use them as accessories to pimp up your pomp).

Nor would non-vegans be likely to plan such an action: I don't know (and can't imagine that) any nonviolent activists that would consider it. But that's beside the point. The Mail's story wasn't about presenting the truth. Rather, it served to convey to the public two key ideas.

First, the story sent the message that climate protesters (XR and JSO) and animal rights activists are *dangerous*. They are not just misguided, but actively deranged -- not really much different from terrorists.

Second, the story reinforced why police must be given extra powers: so they can protect the British public from these malign extremists. To underline the point, the online story ends with news that the King wants "all serving frontline members of the police to be given a medal".

It was a great story. But that's all it was - a story. There is nothing to suggest that *anyone* arrested at the time of the Coronation procession was in possession of a rape alarm (there was a megaphone, some placards, T-shirts saying Just Stop Oil, but no rape alarms).

Incidentally, the only protest I'm aware of at which rape alarms have been used is this one at Charing Cross police station, where the rapist and murderer Wayne Couzens worked. Perhaps the police got their protests mixed up?

https://twitter.com/damiengayle/status/1622984001764876288?s=20

In fact, though, if you read the MoS article carefully, it never actually says "eco-zealots" are planning to use rape alarms. After much detail about the plot & other JSO actions it casually notes:"Security sources did not specify which group or groups were behind the plan". Oh.

And then we get this paragraph, which mentions the “hard-Right English Constitution Party” has used Twitter to urge protesters to “bring rape alarms”. Oh. (And what are we to make of the "separately" in that sentence?).

Here's the tweet from the English Constitution Party that urges supporters to “bring rape alarms” (and eggs) to a demonstration at Westminster Abbey on Coronation day. Quite possibly the claims about plans to throw alarms was a conflation with the eggs.

https://twitter.com/grahamHmoore/status/1617144705258606594

The English Constitution Party are NOT eco-warriors. They share with other rightwing groups an outright climate denial, though of a form that allows for effects that science attributes to greenhouse gas emissions to be blamed on "government weaponisation".

https://twitter.com/grahamHmoore/status/1589299636589985793?s=20

But why rape alarms? Because "The world needs to know that predominantly white working class english girls are being systematically raped and the crown and servants are not protecting the English."

https://twitter.com/grahamHmoore/status/1649950375187824640

(The far right seem to have a fascination with rape alarms. At other demonstrations they bring alarms to give out to people, to promote Islamophobic propaganda about the presence of immigrants from Africa or the Middle East increasing the risk of rape).

So: there was someone who suggested bringing rape alarms to the coronation, but they were nothing to do with JSO (or XR or Republic).

The MoS whipped up all that frenzy about "eco-zealots", with no mention of the rightwing Islamophobes behind the (not very convincing) "plot".

But of course it was never about whether it was a credible threat. This was simply an opportunity to smear climate activists (and republicans) by implying they were somehow connected with this unpleasant idea. Just another day of the rightwing media seeking to vilify protesters.

Another day, another smear from the Mail. But once the genie is out of the bottle, it takes on a life of its own. The news, social media and public discourse was full of talk about the evil plans of those terrible eco-zealots. news.sky.com/story/governme…

Here's the Metro, which just lifted the story directly from the Mail on Sunday, but in the process changed the headline from "extremists" to "protesters" and dropped any mention of far right groups (leading instead with Just Stop Oil).

metro.co.uk/2023/04/23/pro…

That sets the scene; now we come to the human consequences of the Mail's misinformation. Yes, this is a long thread, sorry. I'm going to take a pause before proceeding. I have some important (I think) points to make, & I want to express them carefully & not sound conspiratorial.

If Act I of this shabby drama was setting up the threat, Act II must clearly be about our brave police foiling this evil plot. But how could they foil a plot that was never really a thing in the first place? And even if it were, how could police find these needles in a haystack?

This was a problem that had already been noted by the unnamed "security sources" in the Mail article: "It’s not practical to frisk members of the crowd for rape alarms".

Not practical, and at the risk of being a spoilsport, one might also add not legal or remotely defensible.

Nevertheless, the stars were aligned and the Daily Mail was able to report on Coronation Day that the plot had been foiled with the arrest of "militant activists ... just hours before the procession". Phew!

But there were some parts of the story that didn't seem to make sense.

It turned out that "just hours" meant about 10 hours before the procession. Which seems a bit odd, given that there were no processions of horses to spook at 2am in the morning. What crime was being prevented then?

If you are conspiring to use a rape alarm to disrupt an event at midday, why would you go out the night before to give rape alarms to members of the public. Where is the logic? (Silly question, logic has nothing to do with policing).

And who were these "militant activists"? It turns out they were two women and one man. They were easy to spot, because they were wearing high-viz jackets. But not the orange jackets favoured by JSO. These were of the type worn by Westminster Night Stars.

Wait, Westminster Night Stars? Who they? The latest incarnation of XR/Just Stop Oil? No.
Westminster Night Stars are NOT what the Mail call "eco-zealots". They're a group of people who patrol the streets of Westminster at night to help vulnerable people & make sure they're safe.

The police are well aware of Westminster Night Stars. They work with them and provide training. Those high-viz jackets even have Met Police branding. The police know that they're giving out rape alarms. The Home Office pays for the alarms.

https://twitter.com/GeorgeMonbiot/status/1655513688764305408?s=20

Is it a coincidence that - at the very time they wanted to arrest someone (anyone!) for carrying rape alarms with intent- police managed to arrest people who they knew perfectly well would have rape alarms, people who always carry them, because that's their (police-trained) role?

Being arrested is never pleasant, but it's much worse when it's unexpected & unjust. The three were held for 14 hours; one of them left in tears. This was documented at the time by @brokenbottleboy.

https://twitter.com/brokenbottleboy/status/1654872359365402624?s=20

One of those arrested was Riz. He is one of the kindest, gentlest people you are likely to meet. He gives all his time to help others. That's how I met him - one of the things he does is attend court proceedings to help XR defendants.

https://twitter.com/brokenbottleboy/status/1654887868089745410?s=20

Every time I've been to court Riz has been a friendly face and a source of support; always ready to assist. He's a supporter of XR, but doesn't get involved in activities that might risk arrest. He's not a troublemaker (like me) - he's someone who helps people who are in trouble.

You know the line about, "When you see scary things happening, look for the helpers: You will always find people who are helping"? That's Riz. He is a helper. And that's part of the reason I'm so outraged by this episode.

I know we live in a society that doesn't value acts of kindness, that prioritises power over humility & greed over the helping hand. But it's hard to stomach Riz being handcuffed in a cell for helping vulnerable young women while this guy ⬇️ was poncing around Westminster Abbey.

Here's a photo of Riz's wrists when he got out. Why was he handcuffed for hours? Why was he handcuffed at all?

https://twitter.com/brokenbottleboy/status/1654887076305817600?s=20

Police know Riz. They see him on the streets, and they see him in court. They know that he has a connection to XR, and they know that -- if they stop him at 2am, when he's volunteering for Westminster Night Stars -- he can be relied on to have some rape alarms on his person.

But suppose we resist attributing this arrest to a deliberate police conspiracy. How else to explain it? Perhaps there was an officer who was unaware of the Westminster Night Stars, and stopped them because he was stopping everyone, and noticed that one of them had an XR badge.

XR is not (yet) a proscribed organisation, and wearing a badge should not be cause for victimisation. But no doubt police officers were also part of the audience for the Mail's rabid plot story. When news media engage in authoritarian scapegoating, things can get ugly.

But what did the media do when it became clear to rational observers that this was a terrible case of police over-reach? Was there any mea culpa for starting this wild goose(stepping) chase in the first place? No, of course not.

Taking another break before discussing these ...

The Sun had the most jubilant headline:
"ALARM PLOT: Police foil plot ..."
and led with the claim that "COPS prevented carnage". It's mentioned that "activists" claim those arrested were innocent (but they would say that wouldn't they?) And one "is said to have links to [XR]".

Why does the Sun think it relevant to tell readers that one of those arrested had links to XR? The "intelligence" mentioned no group. The only group making a related threat was a far-right party. XR has never engaged in such tactics & has recently disavowed any public disruption.

The relevance, as far as I can tell, is this: when the Sun mentions that an "innocent" person has links with XR, the subtext is that if you associate with XR then you really can't expect to complain about getting arrested in the middle of the night. You had it coming.

We saw some related victim-blaming logic from Ed Balls. "It can't be the case" that people were arrested simply for holding placards. There must've been intelligence. Police have their reasons, dontcha know? (h/t @ThierryAaron )

https://twitter.com/SaulStaniforth/status/1655453304367742978?s=20

The Daily Mail's report was similar, but included sightly more detail about the night safety volunteers and the concerns raised by Westminster council. Indeed, it looks to me as if is was quite clear to the reporter that this was a botch job of an arrest. dailymail.co.uk/news/royals/ar…

But the paper had no interest in correcting the record. The message to be communicated was this:

THERE WAS A DANGEROUS PLOT [remember how much you hate Just Stop Oil?]. THAT PLOT WAS FOILED BY OUR POLICE.

It was not particularly sophisticated, but doubtless effective propaganda

Why do I mention collusion?
There are close links between the Mail & the police. The head of London Met PR spent almost 10 years as the Daily Mail's crime correspondent. Here he is in 2018 writing about the "Left-wing mob" "eco-warriors" from XR: dailymail.co.uk/news/article-6…

The links between news media and politicians are also close. The billionaires who own our "free" press have form for scapegoating and climate denial. They use their papers to demand more repressive laws to hamper those who would challenge the status quo.

https://twitter.com/XRebellionUK/status/1407232636410601475?s=20

Politicians have happily followed the anti-protest line demanded by press barons. Here's the Home Secretary explaining how the govt is on the side of the law-abiding majority, who are pitted again the selfish minority "who seek to attack our ways of life"

https://twitter.com/ukhomeoffice/status/1653400122695487488?s=20

This kind of demonisation has been criticised by UN Secretary General @antonioguterres
“Climate activists are sometimes depicted as ‘dangerous radicals’. But the truly dangerous radicals are the countries that are increasing the production of fossilfuels."

https://twitter.com/parents4future/status/1654354535966539779?s=20

There's no point looking to Labour for a different viewpoint. On this topic the leadership is of the same mind as the Tories. Even if they wanted to repeal new anti-protest laws (they don't) it'd be too much of a faff. Who's got time for civil liberties?

https://twitter.com/jrc1921/status/1655172977120428034?s=20

The government's glossy marketing celebrates giving "more powers for police to carry out Stop and Search protestors and intervene before chaos is caused". That's presumably what they'd say happened to the three people stopped in Westminster.

https://twitter.com/grantshapps/status/1653682112170434560?s=20

But remember, the people stopped, searched, and then arrested by police *were not protesters*.

As far as I can tell, *anyone* could be charged with the offence of suspicion of conspiracy to commit public nuisance.

Police can arrest whoever they like (or don't like).

And in arresting whoever they like, police will be cheered on by politicians & commentators saying things like "Just IMAGINE the carnage if they were planning to use those Rape Alarms in a protest." Apparently an overactive imagination can justify any assault on civil liberties.

We need to resist this scapegoating & slide into authoritarianism. We're not yet in a 1930s Germany scenario, but (hypothetically!) if there were a fire at the Houses of Parliament, who do you think would be blamed? (with no need for evidence). And what would happen next?

There are important questions to be asked about how Riz and his two colleagues came to be arrested. It may sound conspiratorial, but I don't completely rule out the possibility that this was a premeditated arrest to further a story concocted by (some members of) police and press.

Best case scenario is this was overzealous policing by a few officers. The combination of an XR badge, being brown & having rape alarms was enough for Riz to fall foul of police (un)intelligence. But it depended not only on dodgy intelligence but the way it was spun by the Mail.

Police have (rightly) apologised to Graham Smith, the (white) CEO of Republic, but (so far) there's been no apology to Riz - just a cursory letter saying they'll take no further action. I hope he sues them (and the Mail). /END

Thanks to @brokenbottleboy for being out on the streets (and at the police station) on coronation day reporting on this (and speaking out about it subsequently).