Arrests of British anti-royal protesters spur debate on freedom of expression

In Oxford, peace activist Symon Hill was handcuffed after he shouted his opposition during a ceremonial proclamation of the new king.

Hill said he spontaneously shouted “Who picked him?” because he opposes a head of state being imposed on the country.

“I doubt most people in the crowd even heard me,” he wrote on his blog. “Two or three people near me told me to shut up.”

Hill said he was put into a police van by officers who told him he was being held for alleged conduct likely to cause “harassment, alarm or distress.” He was later released but could still be questioned.

“The police abused their powers to arrest a person who expressed mild opposition to the undemocratic appointment of a head of state,” he said.

In London, a woman was moved from the gates of Parliament while carrying a “Not my king” sign. Police said she was removed from the scene where a police officer was stabbed to death by an Islamist attacker in 2017 to allow vehicles in and was not asked to leave the wider area.

Lawyer Paul Powlesland said he was questioned by police outside parliament on Monday while carrying a blank piece of paper on which he also planned to write “Not my king.”

In footage captured by Powlesland, an officer is heard saying “it might offend someone” if he wrote the words.

Powlesland called the police’s behavior “outrageous.”

Civil rights group Liberty said it was “very concerning to see the police enforcing their broad powers in such a heavy-handed and punitive way to crack down on freedom of speech and expression.”

Republic, a group campaigning for the abolition of the monarchy, said it would complain to the police “in the strongest possible terms” and would organize protests at the king’s coronation in the coming months.

“Freedom of expression is fundamental to any democracy,” said spokesman Graham Smith. “At a time when the media is saturated with arguing about a king appointed without discussion or consent, it is even more important.”

The arrests come after the government passed a controversial law-and-order law that toughens police powers to curb disruptive protests. It is not clear if any of the arrests involved the new law.

Prime Minister Liz Truss’s spokesman, Max Blain, said that while “this is a period of national mourning, and indeed mourning, for the vast majority of Britain … the right to protest remains a fundamental principle.”

But he said it is “up to the police to decide what is appropriate in individual circumstances.”

The Queen’s death has sparked one of the biggest security operations in British history. Around 500 royals, heads of state and heads of government from around the world are expected for the late monarch’s state funeral on Monday. Before then, hundreds of thousands are expected to line up through central London to see the Queen lie in state in Parliament’s Westminster Hall.

Huge crowds have already gathered near Buckingham Palace and other royal residences to leave notes and flowers or simply be part of a moment in history.

London’s Metropolitan Police force said that “the overwhelming majority of interactions between officers and the public at this time have been positive.”

“The public have an absolute right to protest and we have made this clear to all officers involved in the extraordinary police operation currently in place,” Deputy Assistant Commissioner Stuart Cundy said.