“At that moment, there is a police officer trying to pull my arm. I didn’t want to retaliate.”
The woman who was held on the ground by police at the Sarah Everard vigil on Saturday evening has spoken out.
Patsy Stevenson appeared on Good Morning Britain this morning to talk about her experience at the Reclaim These Streets vigil in Clapham Common.
A woman is arrested by Metropolitan Police officers at a vigil in memory of Sarah Everard on Clapham Common, London. Photograph by @jackhillphoto pic.twitter.com/qhp8GFibNr
— Alastair Johnstone (@a_lastair) March 13, 2021
Stevenson told Susanna Reid and Ben Shephard that she “still didn’t know” why she was tackled to the ground at the peaceful vigil.
She also added that members of the police were “aggressively talking to women” and that many were “saying quite a few things that made people angry”.
Speaking on the programme, Stevenson said “I was only there to lay a candle down. I didn’t expect that to happen. When I first heard what was going on I wanted to go down.”
Stevenson added that the vigil had been peaceful before the police arrived.
Images of Stevenson being held down by police officers went viral on social media over the weekend.
“I didn’t expect for it to happen so quickly,” Stevenson said. “At that moment, there is a police officer trying to pull my arm. I didn’t want to retaliate. I didn’t want to react.”
She continued: “I was terrified. I’ve never been so scared.”
Stevenson added that she is “fully aware that the police have to do their jobs”, but insisted that the vigil was safe.
Images of police officers aggressively handling women emerged on social media after the vigil.
Met Commissioner Dame Cressida Dick has refused to step down amid calls for her resignation.
In response she said “Unlawful gatherings are unlawful gatherings.”
Dick also offered her support to the family of Sarah Everard, who disappeared on 3 March. Last week, authorities confirmed that human remains found in Kent belonged to the missing woman.
Several Reclaim These Streets protests are being planned in Irish cities this week.
