Thread by @georgie_rose_b

It was a real honour & privilege being a steward at a LWS event for the first time in the city that's been my home for the past 5 yrs. I took a few vids of the event, and I've posted them and a few comments below. 1/x #LetWomenSpeak #LetWomenSpeakBirmingham

Myself & another steward arrived late. As we were about to enter the fray, we caught sight of a police officer phoning for back up. The other steward explained who she was to the officer, & he told us that the police had only arranged for 3 officers to be present at the event 2/x

We asked if more would arrive given the animosity of the TRAs. He said the difficulty in getting more officers on the ground, was that he didn't want his bobbies being targets.

Originally the stewards held the line closer to the library. 3/x

And there was a gap between us and the TRAs. When the free speech rally moved closer to King Edward memorial statue, the TRAs broke our original line. The stewards and other members of the rally managed to reform a line a few metres closer to the statue 4/x

We were holding the line when suddenly dozens of police officers sprung out of nowhere to hold the line and stewards were asked to move back by the police 5/x

There was a gap between the Hall of Memory & Centenary Way that wasn't well populated by officers, & a few TRAs saw this & tried to encroach further, so I was placed closer to the Hall of Memory, and again other rally members formed a barrier between the TRAs & the rally 6/x

After 2 hours of stewarding, this was a personal highlight. What better way to destress and raise morale than breaking out some moves to Milkshake 7/x

When I was in school, & learning about the Nazis & totalitarian regimes, I always hoped that if sumthing like that happened in my lifetime, I'd be amongst the brave ranks of ppl who spoke out against it. After today, I feel 1 step closer to becoming the person I aspire to be 8/8