May 8, 2023
Updated 38 minutes ago
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Graham Smith of the Republic Campaign Group was arrested on Coronation Day
The Metropolitan Police have expressed their “regret” at the arrest of six anti-monarchy protesters on Coronation Day.
Republic chief executive Graham Smith, who was part of the group, said he has now received a personal apology from police officers.
He said he does not accept the apology and will take legal action after no charges have been filed against him.
The Met also confirmed it had used a controversial new law to hold the group.
Mr Smith said a chief inspector and two other officers visited his home in Reading on Monday night to apologize.
He told the PA news agency: “They seemed quite embarrassed to be honest.
“I said for the record that I will not accept the apology. We have many questions to answer and we will take action.”
Mr Smith previously said he wanted a “full investigation” into the “disgraceful episode”.
The Met said a review found there was no evidence the six protesters arrested when their vehicle was stopped near the procession route planned to “switch on,” a protest tactic now banned .
Recent legislative changes passed last week make it illegal for protesters to use gear to secure themselves to things like railings.
The Met said the group of six were arrested after items were found in a vehicle that officers had “reasonable reason to believe could be used as locking devices.”
But the force said they were “unable to demonstrate intent to use them to capture and disrupt the event”.
A man from the group was also arrested for possession of a knife or sharp object.
The Met said it was “not clear at this point” to arresting officers that “at least one of the group arrested had liaised with police” to hold a lawful protest ahead of the coronation.
“We regret that these six people arrested were not able to join the larger group of protesters in Trafalgar Square and elsewhere along the procession route,” the statement said.
It is now said that bail has been canceled for all six people and it is confirmed that no further action will be taken.
Mr Smith said earlier Monday he had spent months consulting with officials about his group’s protest plans and said in a statement on Twitter that his group would be “talking to lawyers about taking legal action”.
He said he was held for 16 hours on the morning of the coronation after being stopped by officers who suspected him and group members of carrying “locking devices” to tie themselves to inanimate objects.
“They also said they had intelligence information, which is not true,” he told BBC Radio 4’s Today program.
“If they had intelligence, their intelligence officers are either lying or incompetent because there was never any discussion, thought, email, message or anything that indicated an intention to do anything disruptive.”
Mr Smith added that after months of talks with the Met, the force “had repeatedly said up until Friday that they had no concerns about our protest plans, that they were aware of what we were doing and they were going to put us in.” Get in touch and don’t disturb us”.
He continued, “So they lied repeatedly about their intentions, and I believe they had every intention of arresting us beforehand.”
Mr Smith also dismissed suggestions that his arrest along with other protesters was necessary to limit the disruption of the coronation.
Shadow Housing Secretary Lisa Nandy said there was “clearly something that went wrong” in the handling of Mr Smith’s case and expressed her support for a review of the matter, which has been called for by Mayor of London Sadiq Khan.
But she said Labor has not committed to a “major repeal” of the new law introduced by the Conservatives last week, which has been criticized for restricting the rights of peaceful protesters.
She told BBC Breakfast: “One of the questions we have is ‘why was this group clearly in contact with the Met, had informed them of their plans and yet been arrested and prevented from protesting?’.
“If there is a problem with the legislation, of course we will correct it in government, but we don’t want to sweep legislation aside without first understanding what the real problem is.”
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Watch: Moment protester arrested near Trafalgar Square
Earlier, Met Police Federation chairman Ken Marsh said officers “police without fear or favour” and insisted the force had done “an incredible job” overseeing the coronation.
He told the Today programme: “We have to consider everything that is ahead of us at this moment. When individuals intend to cause an incident that will affect others near or around them…then we take action to deal with it.
“Protests can happen in this country, but at the level that you’re conducting these protests, we have to balance and deal with it.”