Graham Smith leads the anti-monarchy group Republic
By Jasmine Andersson
BBC News
An anti-monarchy protester detained during the Coronation says he believes the Met had “every intention” of arresting him before the event.
Chief executive of Republic, Graham Smith, was one of 64 people arrested by the force in London on Saturday.
He said he was held despite being in close conversation with the Met “for four months” about the group’s plans.
The Met said it had “a duty to intervene when protest becomes criminal and may cause serious disruption”.
Commander Karen Findlay, who led the Met’s policing during the Coronation, said: “Earlier this week we said our tolerance for any disruption, whether through protest or otherwise, will be low and that we would deal robustly with anyone intent on undermining the celebration.”
Mr Smith told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme he had been detained for 16 hours after being stopped by officers who suspected him and group members of carrying “lock on” devices to tie themselves to inanimate objects – a tactic which was outlawed by the government last week.
He said police had stopped him and fellow protesters from unloading their van, before detaining and searching them.
“They told us they were going to arrest us on suspicion of being equipped to lock on, which was untrue – there was nothing we had in our possession that could have allowed us to lock on. They then took us and held us for 16 hours.
“They also said they had intelligence, which is untrue. If they did have intelligence their intelligence officers are either lying or incompetent because there was never any discussion, thought, email, message, anything that suggested any intent to do anything disruptive.”
Mr Smith added that after months of discussions with the Met about how they would conduct their demonstration, the force had “repeatedly said – right up until Friday – that they had no concerns about our protest plans – they were well aware of what we were going to do and that they would engage with us and not disrupt us”.
“So they have repeatedly lied about their intentions, and I believe that they had every intention of arresting us prior to doing so.”
Crowds gathered outside in central London near Buckingham Palace and Westminster Abbey on Saturday to watch the Coronation of King Charles III and Queen Camilla.
The Met made 64 arrests for various offences on the day, including breach of the peace and conspiracy to cause a public nuisance.
Four charges have been made by police so far, including one person charged with the suspicion of causing a religiously aggravated offence, two for the possession of Class A drugs, and another for breaching Section 5 of the Public Order Act, which relates to displaying any material that is threatening or abusive.
All four will appear in Westminster Magistrates’ Court later this month.
On Monday, members of the public will take part in community volunteering events across the UK to mark the final day of the Coronation celebrations.
