LONDON (CNN) London’s Metropolitan Police said they had during the coronation of King Charles III. made 52 arrests on Saturday as the force faces growing scrutiny over its stance on anti-monarchy protesters.
Thousands gathered in central London on Saturday to celebrate the once in a lifetime occasion. But it also drew protesters who wore yellow T-shirts and chanted “Not My King” throughout the morning.
Republic, Britain’s largest anti-monarchy group, told CNN that police – without giving a reason – arrested organizers of the anti-monarchy protest.
Around 7 a.m. (2 a.m. ET) police stopped six of the Republic organizers and told them they would arrest and search them, Republic Director Harry Stratton told CNN at the protest.
Republic chief executive Graham Smith was among those arrested, according to reports a video shared by the Alliance of European Republican Movements.
Protesters hold signs reading “Not My King” and “Abolish the Monarchy” near the procession.
Stratton said when organizers asked police why they were being arrested, they were told that officers “would find out” after searching the anti-monarchy protesters. After searching them, the police told the six organizers that they would arrest them and confiscate hundreds of their placards with the slogan “Not My King”.
“They didn’t say why they arrested her. They didn’t tell them or us where they took them. It’s really like something out of a police state,” Stratton said.
“I think people are quite concerned about the police response. But the crowd’s reaction to us was overwhelmingly friendly,” he added.
The group posted Twitter Saturday and commented: “So much for the right to peaceful protest.”
Members of environmental activist group Just Stop Oil were also apparently arrested in The Mall outside Buckingham Palace, British news agency PA Media reported, adding that a large group of the protesters were seen handcuffed.
A member of Just Stop Oil was arrested and taken away by police.
The Metropolitan Police confirmed several arrests in central London and defended their actions.
“A total of 52 arrests were made today for offenses including brawling, public order offences, breach of the peace and conspiracy to cause a public nuisance. All of these individuals remain in custody,” police said in a press release.
Met defends arrests
Commander Karen Findlay, who is leading the police operation, said in the press release: “We absolutely understand the public’s concern following the arrests we made this morning.
“Protest is lawful and can be disruptive. We have monitored numerous non-interventional protests leading up to and during the coronation.
“Our duty is to do so in an appropriate manner, in accordance with relevant legislation. We also have a duty to intervene when protests can become criminal and cause serious disruption.
“It depends on the context. The coronation is an event that happens only once in a generation, and that is a key aspect of our assessment.
Human Rights Watch, a nonprofit campaigning group, said earlier on Saturday that the coronation arrests were “something you would expect in Moscow and not London,” according to a PA Media statement.
Anti-monarchy groups have expressed concern over the treatment of protesters.
The Republic claimed they were expecting between 1,500 and 2,000 people to join the group at their protest in Trafalgar Square, south of the royal processional route.
“Instead of a coronation, we want an election. Instead of Charles, we want an election. It’s that simple,” the group tweeted on Saturday.
Growing police powers
The Metropolitan Police, the UK’s largest police force, have come under scrutiny for their crackdown on coronation protests.
“Our tolerance for disruption, whether by protest or otherwise, will be low,” the force wrote on Twitter this week. “We will crack down on anyone who intends to undermine this celebration.”
Ahead of the event, the Met said more than 11,500 police officers would be deployed across London on Saturday, making the coronation the largest single-day deployment in decades.
In the operation – dubbed the Golden Orb – officers lined the procession route, managed crowds and roadblocks, protected high-profile individuals and conducted searches with special teams.
There are also plans to use facial recognition technology in central London, which has drawn criticism from human rights groups.
Protesters gathered in central London on Saturday.
“We all have the right to live our lives without being observed and monitored, but everyone at the coronation risks having their faces scanned by repressive facial recognition technology,” Emmanuelle Andrews of human rights group Liberty said on Twitter.
The operation comes amid growing concerns about the increasing power of the police to quell dissent in the UK following the recent introduction of controversial legislation.
Over the past year, the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022 has been significantly “expanded”.[ed] the range of circumstances in which police can impose conditions on a protest.” Under the new law, it is a criminal offense for protesters to “cause intentionally or recklessly[e] public nuisance” – including causing “serious nuisance”.
In a statement to CNN, Liberty said this law made it “much harder for people to stand up for what they believe without facing the risk of criminalization.”
On Tuesday, a new law called the Public Order Act received royal assent from King Charles, which is a formality and the final hurdle before a bill goes into effect.
It will “give police the powers to prevent disruption to major sporting and cultural events taking place in England and Wales this summer,” Britain’s Home Office said in a statement.
Concrete measures in the law were introduced from Wednesday.
Under that law, long-standing protest tactics like lockdown – in which protesters physically attach themselves to things like buildings – could result in a six-month jail sentence or an “unlimited fine,” the Home Office said.