There were tense scenes in Clapham Common this evening as demonstrators defying Covid restrictions clashed with police while trying to hold a vigil for Sarah Everard.
Officers moved in after crowds near the common’s bandstand swelled, despite a memorial event being cancelled at the last minute.
Officers were seen leading several protesters away while some in the crowds shouted ‘shame on you’.
Hundreds have been gathering at the common throughout the day to lay flowers and pay their respects. Kate Middleton spent some time looking at the tributes as she visited the site earlier.
A vigil organised by campaign group Reclaim These Streets had been planned for 6pm but was called off this morning with organisers holding a virtual event instead.
Many hundreds of people still decided to visit the bandstand in person and there were emotional scenes as mourners comforted each other and lit candles in Ms Everard’s memory.
Police urged people to go home because the gathering was ‘unsafe’ during the global pandemic.
But some present claimed the issue of violence against women was ‘way more important’ than coronavirus restrictions.
Demonstrators accused the police of ‘waiting for the sun to set before they started grabbing and manhandling women in the crowd’.
It appeared some of the women at the bandstand were being arrested. Metro has asked the Met for comment.
One video posted online showed officers grabbing women before leading them away, to screaming and shouting from onlookers.
Campaign group Sisters Uncut, which had representatives attending the Clapham vigil, tweeted: ‘As soon as the sun went down, police stormed the bandstand. We do NOT answer to violent men.’
The vigil had originally been planned to pay tribute to Ms Everard, whose body was found in woodland on Wednesday after she went missing while walking home a week previously.
Serving police officer Wayne Couzens has been charged with her murder and appeared in court earlier.
Organisers also wanted to call for more to be done to end violence against women.
Reclaim These Streets tried to convince police the vigil could take place in a Covid-secure way but a judge in the high court yesterday refused to intervene in the case.
As more and more mourners turned up at the bandstand, police sent out a warning to not gather in groups and urged people to stick to the rules.
A tweet from the Lambeth police account said: ‘The gathering at Clapham Common is unsafe. Hundreds of people are tightly packed together in breach of the regulations and risking public health.
‘We are urging people to go home and we thank those who have been engaging with officers and who are leaving.’
Eve James and her boyfriend Joe Webster, both aged 26, were among those who attended.
Ms James said: ‘I was on the fence about whether to come or not because I have been following the rules as closely as possible but all week I have not been able to stop thinking about Sarah.
‘I used to live in Clapham, I only moved to Fulham about a year ago and I just felt so strongly that it could have been any of us.’
Mr Webster said: ‘With Covid guidelines or whatever, it doesn’t matter. This is way more important than that.’
Several MPs have criticised the actions of the force and officers’ handling of the vigil.
Bell Ribeiro-Addy, who represents nearby Streatham, tweeted footage of the clashes, saying: ‘This could have been the socially distanced vigil the community needed to remember Sarah and all the women who have lost their lives to violence. We knew what was going to happen if the event was shut down.’
She added: ‘I know Lambeth Borough officers made efforts to compromise with the organisers but were overruled from high up.
‘They’ll be left to deal with the fallout of this and the further burden it places on already strained community relationships. Very disappointing from Scotland Yard.’
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