Anti-Monarchy Group Says Its Leader Arrested Ahead of King Charles Coronation

Graham Smith, leader of campaign group Republic, attends an anti-monarchy protest prior to the Commonwealth Service, outside Westminster Abbey in London, on March 13, 2023. (May James/Reuters)

The leader of anti-monarchy campaign group Republic has been arrested along with five of his team members in the run-up to the coronation of King Charles III, the group said.

Tens of thousands of people have gathered to cheer the royal procession and military parade for the coronation at London’s Westminster Abbey on Saturday, the biggest ceremonial event staged in the British capital for 70 years.

Well-wishers line the route of the King's Procession, a two-kilometre stretch from Buckingham Palace to Westminster Abbey, in central London, on May 6, 2023. (Sebastien Bozon/pool via Reuters)

London Metropolitan Police chief Mark Rowley had warned on Friday that there would be a “very low tolerance for disruption.” There are more than 11,000 police officers on patrol in central London.

Footage posted on Twitter seems to show Republic’s chief executive Graham Smith being apprehended by police in St Martin’s Lane, near Trafalgar Square, on Saturday morning.

Pictures appear to show demonstrators in yellow “Not My King” T-shirts, including Smith, having their details taken by officers.

In one video, an officer says: “I’m not going to get into a conversation about that—they are under arrest, end of.”

Writing on Twitter on Saturday morning, the group said: “This morning, Graham Smith and 5 members of our team were arrested. Hundreds of placards were seized. Is this democracy?”

Soon afterwards, a large group of activists from the climate group Just Stop Oil were seen in handcuffs on the Mall, near Buckingham Palace.

The Metropolitan Police later confirmed that several people had been arrested on suspicion of offences including breaching the peace and conspiracy to cause public nuisance.

‘Significant Police Operation’

In a statement on Twitter, the force said: “A significant police operation is under way in central London.

“We have made a number of arrests in the area of Carlton House Terrace. The individuals have been held on suspicion of breaching the peace.

“Earlier today we arrested four people in the area of St Martin’s Lane. They were held on suspicion of conspiracy to cause public nuisance. We seized lock-on devices.

“A further three people were arrested in the area of Wellington Arch. They were held on suspicion of possessing articles to cause criminal damage.

“There will be further updates later today.”

After the apparent arrests, Republic activist Luke Whiting, 26, said it was unclear why the arrests had been made.

“It is unclear why—potentially it is because one of them was carrying a megaphone,” he said, adding, “It is unclear exactly whether the police are using these new powers and whether they are misusing them to stop protest happening.”

One woman in a Republic T-shirt who was arrested said: “We had a delivery of placards ready for the protest and then the tactical support unit questioned us as to how we had got through the road closures.

“They questioned whether what we were doing was a delivery. They then said they found evidence of means of locking on, of items that could be used to lock on, and they arrested us.”

Under the new Public Order Act, protesters who have an object with the intention of using it to “lock on” are liable to a fine, with those who block roads facing 12 months in prison.

Critics previously hit out at plans from the Met to use facial recognition software on crowds to assist their policing operations.

Climate Protests

Just Stop Oil said approximately 13 demonstrators have been arrested on The Mall ahead of the coronation.

Footage from the Mall showed about 15 protesters being handcuffed and taken away by police.

A spokeswoman for the campaign group said five demonstrators were also arrested at Downing Street.

She said the group’s plan was “only to display T-shirts and flags,” adding: “This is a dystopian nightmare.”

Just Stop Oil protester Ben Larsen said: “I wanted to see the coronation and peacefully protest on the sidelines, in a respectful manner.

“All we had was a Just Stop Oil T-shirt and an orange flag and that’s enough to be detained by the police and searched.”

He claimed that police found him using AI facial recognition cameras that they were trialling at the coronation.

‘Incredibly Alarming’

Sacha Deshmukh, Amnesty International UK’s chief executive, said the human rights group had been concerned about Metropolitan Police statements about its “low tolerance” of protests ahead of the coronation arrests.

He said in a statement: “We need to see what details emerge around these incidents but merely being in possession of a megaphone or carrying placards should never be grounds for a police arrest.

“Peaceful protest is clearly protected under international human rights law and it’s been worrying to see the police this week making numerous statements about their ‘low tolerance’ for disruption at the coronation.”

He added that the coronation “shouldn’t become yet another excuse for undermining people’s basic human rights in this country.”

Human Rights Watch said the coronation arrests were “incredibly alarming” and “something you would expect to see in Moscow not London.”

Its UK director Yasmine Ahmed said in a statement: “Peaceful protests allow individuals to hold those in power to account, something the UK government seems increasingly averse to.”

PA Media and Reuters contributed to this report.