Cops and MSM collude to smear Defend Our Juries as violent mob

The corporate media and the Met Police have been spreading lies about peaceful protesters at the Defend Our Juries’ ‘Lift The Ban‘ action on Saturday 6 September.

Defend Our Juries: overwhelming the Met

The Met has announced that 857 people were arrested in total on 6 September under Section 13 of the Terrorism Act 2000 for holding signs saying “I oppose genocide. I support Palestine Action”. The last arrest took place around midnight, meaning the action lasted 11 hours.

Defend Our Juries say this was “one of the biggest acts of civil disobedience in British history” which a “clear and powerful message” to the new Home Secretary as she takes up her position that “such an unjust law which the public will not accept will inevitably have to be abandoned”.

They add that she must “rethink what is becoming Labour’s poll tax moment”, which is “making the UK the subject of condemnation and ridicule around the world”.

The Canary was on the ground during the protest. Our digital editor Nicola Jeffery and content creator Teddy Sparrow witnessed first hand cops inciting the crowd by using disproportionate force against the peaceful protesters:

Cops are already inciting the peaceful protesters at the @DefendourJuries #LiftTheBan demo in central London #StopArmingIsrael. Huge chants of 'shame on you' are directed at the police. @NicolaCJeffery live on the ground there pic.twitter.com/O2YuPjSJKT

— Canary (@TheCanaryUK) September 6, 2025

It was clear that the Met were overwhelmed due to the government’s preposterous ruling on Palestine Action. Plus, it was also clear many of the cops were inexperienced. Also, there was a sense that some of the police present did really not want to be there:

I'm just leaving this here…#LiftTheBan #StopArmingIsrael #FreePalestine pic.twitter.com/qeiSv8HPtm

— Nicola Jeffery (@NicolaCJeffery) September 7, 2025

If it moves like an op

Regardless, all these cops were indeed guilty by association:

You're filthy, guilty by association…@NicolaCJeffery channels @jhus as the cops behave badly at today's @defendourjuries #LiftTheBan demo in London #StopArmingIsrael pic.twitter.com/HCIxPyzptg

— Canary (@TheCanaryUK) September 6, 2025

Defend Our Juries said in a statement:

The fact that 857 out of 1,500 were arrested and that this took 11 hours, makes a mockery of the ban on Palestine Action and shows once again that it is impossible to enforce, with further mass defiance in Scotland and Northern Ireland, making yesterday one of the biggest acts of civil disobedience in British history.

1,500 people entirely peacefully defying the ban, holding cardboard signs in quiet dignity, sends a clear and powerful message to the new Home Secretary as she takes up her position: such an unjust law which the public will not accept will inevitably have to be abandoned. These mass acts of defiance will continue until the ban is lifted and there are simply too many people who refuse to accept this absurdly authoritarian ban and the Government’s complicity in Israel’s genocide to arrest us all.

Rather than arrest thousands more ordinary citizens, from vicars and priests, war veterans and descendants of Holocaust survivors to retired teachers and healthcare workers, who are predominantly elderly and many disabled, the new Home Secretary must rethink what is becoming Labour’s poll tax moment, which is making the UK the subject of condemnation and ridicule around the world.

However, the Canary also witnessed the cops manhandling disabled older people:

ONGOING 📢

Cops now dragging off older disabled people from the @DefendourJuries #LiftTheBan protest in London – all for holding a sign. Shame on you indeed, @metpoliceuk. @NicolaCJeffery on the ground for us #StopArmingIsrael pic.twitter.com/wiqWzE2KWQ

— Canary (@TheCanaryUK) September 6, 2025

Repeatedly:

LATEST 📢

We're at the 'manhandling disabled people and journalists' stage of Labour and the cops' authoritarian crack-down on the right to protest and to resist a genocide #LiftTheBan Happening right now in London @DefendourJuries HT @NicolaCJeffery pic.twitter.com/ye6flYIgfp

— Canary (@TheCanaryUK) September 6, 2025

And we weren’t alone in seeing this level of violence from cops:

Sound: The BBC News last night reporting that the Met Police says officers experienced an exceptional level of abuse

Footage: the reality. pic.twitter.com/W3i2HMHGgF

— Saul Staniforth (@SaulStaniforth) September 7, 2025

Yet somehow, the Met chose to put this nonsense out:

Officers policing the Defend Our Juries protest in Parliament Square have been subjected to an exceptional level of abuse including punches, kicks, spitting and objects being thrown, in addition to verbal abuse.

Any assaults against officers will not be tolerated and arrests…

— Metropolitan Police (@metpoliceuk) September 6, 2025

And media outlets like Reuters, the BBC, and the Evening Standard repeated these claims without question.

Resistance is possible

As Defend Our Juries noted:

Regarding the Met’s false claims smearing the protesters, this is simply a desperate attempt to deflect from the embarrassment caused to Sir Mark Rowley after he pledged the Met would arrest every person who held a sign saying “I oppose genocide. I support Palestine Action.

While the Met has failed to provide any evidence backing up their claims, photos and video footage, including those published by the Press Association, show the Met aggressively arresting people, including a protester with blood streaming down their face during, as well as wielding their batons and pushing a protester to the ground. One astonishing video shows a police officer violently punching through the crowd.

Saturday’s events show many things – not least that cops, regardless of their personal views, are all complicit in the government’s authoritarian crack down on the right to peaceful protest. Therefore, by default these same cops are complicit in the UK’s hand in Israel’s ongoing genocide in Gaza.

However, what Defend Our Juries has also shown is that resistance is still possible – yet it comes at the cost of people’s personal liberties. That is a small price to pay for many, though, when so much else is at stake.

Featured image via the Canary