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Daily Record
Daily Record
National
Kirsty Feerick

Protesters march to Downing Street after police 'manhandle' women at Sarah Everard vigil

Hundreds of protesters have marched to Downing Street after police 'grabbed and manhandled' women at the Sarah Everard vigil.

Huge crowds chanted 'shame on you' at cops outside of Scotland Yard today, before marching to Parliament Square this evening.

It comes after demonstrators demanded greater public safety for women after the death of 33-year-old Sarah last night.

Protestors marched to Downing Street tonight (AFP via Getty Images)

Cops were seen pinning women down and dragging them away as they gathered in memory of the tragic marketing executive.

Now furious protesters have walked to Downing Street to challenge the Metropolitan Police and the 'completely unacceptable' response to the silent vigil.

It comes after Activist group Sisters Uncut today announced it would be protesting outside the Met HQ, posting on Twitter : "We will not be intimidated. Do not dare lay your hands on us tonight."

Police detain a woman as people gather at a memorial site in Clapham Common Bandstand on Saturday (REUTERS)

Officers erected barriers around the Metropolitan Police headquarters and the group of demonstrators, many holding placards aloft, spilled over on to the road next to the River Thames.

They are slamming cops who pinned down women before dragging them away as they peacefully gathered for Sarah last night.

Her death sparked outrage across the UK.

A serving police officer, Wayne Couzens, 48, was later arrested on suspicion of her murder.

Photos showed protesters hold up homemade placards this afternoon outside Scotland Yard that read 'men your silence makes you complicit' and 'rest in power'.

Barriers have also been put up around the police headquarters as demonstrators chant 'shame on you.'

In Parliament Square demonstrators fell silent to remember Sarah, before chants of "kill the bill" broke out.

Feminist group Sisters Uncut gather at New Scotland Yard to protest police response (Ian Vogler / Daily Mirror)

This refers to the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill, due to be debated in the Commons tomorrow, which would give powers to the police to impose conditions on protests which are "noisy" enough to cause "intimidation or serious unease" - or which have an "impact" on the local community.

But Scotland Yard claims they were "placed in a position where enforcement was necessary" amid pressure to explain its handling of the event.

It comes after 33-year-old Sarah vanished while walking home from a friends house on March 3rd in the Clapham area of London to walk home alone.

A massive police search was then sparked after it was reported that she never returned home.

A number of events were organised across the UK by Reclaim the Streets but they were cancelled and protesters were advised to stay at home due to Covid-19 concerns.

Scottish protestors appeared to follow advice to stay with socially-distanced ribbon tying events at locations including Queen's Park.

Sarah, 33, vanished on March 3 after leaving her friend’s house to walk home alone. (Supplied)

In London huge crowds continued to gather and there were clashes with police.

Police grabbed and dragged away a number of women who were stood within the bandstand on Clapham Common, prompting jeers and screams from the crowd.

Now London's mayor said he was not satisfied with the explanation he had been given for last night's scenes, which prompted outrage around the world.

Sadiq Khan said the scenes in Clapham were "unacceptable", tweeting: "The police have a responsibility to enforce Covid laws but from images I've seen it's clear the response was at times neither appropriate nor proportionate."

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