"Videos show police officers shoving protesters to the ground and kettling them outside Prison Wormwood Scrubs. Eighty-six people have been arrested in the United Kingdom after gathering at a London prison in support of a Palestine Action-linked activist on hunger strike and in a perilous condition who is being held there, police say. London's Metropolitan Police wrote on X late on Saturday that officers were dispatched to Prison Wormwood Scrubs, where protesters refused to leave the grounds when ordered to do so."
"Inside Wormwood Scrubs is Umer Khalid, a 22-year-old pro-Palestine activist who stopped eating 16 days ago. He had been on hunger strike since November, briefly pausing in December due to severe ill health. The group allegedly blocked prison staff from entering and leaving, threatened police officers and a number managed to get inside a staff entrance area of a prison building, the police said."
"Videos of the incident verified by Al Jazeera show police officers shoving protesters to the ground and handcuffing them as shouts ring out in the background. Two groups of police also appeared to kettle protesters a police tactic that involves officers surrounding and closing in on a group of demonstrators in an effort to contain them. Why are you assaulting me? a woman can be heard asking at one point."
Protesters gathered outside Wormwood Scrubs in London in support of 22-year-old Umer Khalid, a pro-Palestine activist on hunger strike and in precarious health. Police say officers were sent after protesters refused to leave, and 86 people were arrested on suspicion of aggravated trespass. Videos verified by Al Jazeera show officers shoving and handcuffing demonstrators and kettling crowds to contain them. Police alleged protesters blocked staff movement, threatened officers and accessed a staff entrance area. Khalid is being monitored with hourly medical observations and has reportedly planned to escalate his hunger strike.
Read at www.aljazeera.com
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