#protest-policing

#protest-policing

We're dealing now with thousands of protests every year. We also know that the protest demand on the Met is a chronic abstraction for officers taken out of community policing. Money given to the Met from central Government to cover policing in the capital city was significantly underfunded for the amount of demand that they are currently dealing with.

A total of 10 gunshots rang out from the ICE officers, leaving Pretti lying supine and motionless in the middle of the street. He was declared dead at the scene. Video of the incident appeared to contradict the Department of Homeland Security narrative that Pretti approached US Border Patrol officers with a 9 mm semi-automatic handgun, and that the officers were forced to shoot in self-defense.

Based on how members of the Trump administration rushed to describe Renee Nicole Good, the Minneapolis woman who was shot and killed in her minivan while protesting ICE, as a "domestic terrorist," a "professional agitator," and an "anti-ICE rioter" behind the wheel of a "thousand-pound missile," here is how they might describe her dropping off her son at school just before she was killed.

The riots happened after a man armed with a knife attacked a group of young children outside a school in Parnell Square. Gardaí regained control, but only after considerable damage to people, property and the reputation of our country. The riots were a wake-up call for the public about how quickly mayhem can descend on and spread through the streets, and the considerable challenges facing gardaí in a fast-paced scenario in which extremists will foment violence and take the law into their own hands.

We accept that this is all part of policing in a capital city, but it does present unique cost and resourcing pressures for the Met. All the officers you see out on these busy protest and event days have other core roles and while we have done a lot to limit the number of officers pulled away from frontline duties, it is inevitable that there will still be an impact on other policing priorities.

The Pink Ladies took part in a peaceful demonstration at Canary Wharf on 31st August 2025. Our purpose was, and always will be, to stand up for justice in a non-violent, compassionate, and respectful way. Unfortunately, during the demonstration, the policing approach was heavy-handed. We wish to clarify reports circulating in the media that a police officer was punched in the face. This is not what happened. In reality, a young policewoman deployed her pepper spray incorrectly and accidentally injured herself in the process.

Basically, they are there as agents of the state, and we end up seeing it time after time after time. And there will be further injustices perpetrated because the police do what they do.

DHS's risk-based approach reflects a broader shift in US law enforcement shaped by post-9/11 security priorities-one that elevates perceived intent over demonstrable wrongdoing.