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Anti-royal protesters are being arrested in the U.K. as 'Not My King' tag grows

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Re: Anti-royal protesters are being arrested in the U.K. as 'Not My King' tag grows

#131

Post by wutbrodo »

mc32 wrote: post #40
ISL wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In the United States, with certain limits [1], one can picket funerals and be massively disrespectful. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Westboro_Baptist_Church#Laws_l...

But this is a case in the UK. They have different laws and observe different decorum. Even in the US I would think protesting a funeral to be in extremely poor taste, no matter the target. What’s that Latin phrase about the recently dead?

The article describes an activist who specifically took pains to avoid any disparagement of the outgoing Queen, limiting his protest to the incoming coronation.

If that falls under the rule you're describing, doesn't that render it impossible to protest a ceremony, as long as it happens after a funeral? It seems you're defining away the protest of hereditary succession as unacceptably rude?

Re: Anti-royal protesters are being arrested in the U.K. as 'Not My King' tag grows

#133

Post by heavyset_go »

mwint wrote: post #105
gambiting wrote: post #86

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why does everything have to be so extremist with the US? Everything taken to the absolute maximum imaginable? Protests should be allowed, but it's not an absolute god given right - if you're being a dick, destroying public property, advocating violence or hate - then no, you shouldn't be allowed to protest. I know in America you let even neo nazis march your streets and boast how that's "freedom" but that's not freed…

USAian here: > Protests should be allowed They are. > destroying public property Is illegal and you can be arrested for it. > advocating violence or hate Is illegal and you can be arrested for it. You just can’t be arrested for “being rude”. You have to commit a crime. Protesting does not mean you’re immune to prosecution for non-free-speech crimes. What happened with the BLM riots was simply governments deciding, fo…

> > advocating violence or hate

> Is illegal and you can be arrested for it.

This is untrue. Immediate, direct, actionable threats are illegal, saying "I/we/you need to go hunt down and murder X now" can be construed as an actionable threat.

Extolling the virtues of murder and opining about how nice it would be if someone finally hunted down and killed X is legal free speech.

You can talk about how X needs to die all you want, but if you start making immediate, direct, actionable threats towards X, that crosses territory from free speech to illegal threats.

Re: Anti-royal protesters are being arrested in the U.K. as 'Not My King' tag grows

#134

Post by bogomipz »

dijit wrote: post #12
closewith wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> They aren’t being arrested for being anti-monarchy though. > They are being arrested for being rude about it. Got it. Arrested for poor taste. Hard to see the justification for that in a democracy?

You will be arrested for hurling obscenities at mourners regardless of who the dead person is. People were arrested at Margaret Thatchers funeral for the same thing. It’s not rocket science. You’re not allowed to do that.

>"You will be arrested for hurling obscenities at mourners regardless of who the dead person is."

The word hurling in the context of insults or obscenities means vocalizing them in a very audible fashion. The article states that the woman at St Giles was not audibly protesting but rather holding a sign. Given that she was quietly expressing her opinion, tasteful or not, it seems she could have been quietly removed without being arrested.

>"In widely seen photos, a woman holding a sign reading "Abolish monarchy" and "F*** imperialism" was arrested on Sunday at St. Giles' Cathedral in Edinburgh, where the queen's body is to lie at rest until Tuesday.

Further the object of their protest was the institution and neither the mourners or the deceased.

The other two people mentioned in the article who were vocal, were outside on public streets and not in a Church. The article states they were near parade barricades. Again the object of their protest was the institution and it was being done on public streets. Surely you are allowed to express your discontent about an institution on a public street. That's not rocket science.

>"And in London, a woman was led away by four uniformed officers on Monday after holding up a sign reading "Not my king" — which has become a trending hashtag — near Westminster Hall."

Again we have a woman who was holding up a sign on a public street "near Westminster Hall."

Re: Anti-royal protesters are being arrested in the U.K. as 'Not My King' tag grows

#135

Post by teamonkey »

koheripbal wrote: post #69
mytailorisrich wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Let's just say that the hecklers have been arrested much, much faster (pretty much instantly, apparently) than the "eco-activists" who recently blocked roads, petrol stations, even motorways...

I think we agree that all disruptive assholes should be arrested quickly.

Definitely, absolutely not.

Re: Anti-royal protesters are being arrested in the U.K. as 'Not My King' tag grows

#136

Post by CameronNemo »

Gigachad wrote: post #98
Havoc wrote: post #76

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>They are being arrested for being rude about it. Which is substantially worse. Rudeness is so subjective and context sensitive that it really shouldn't form the basis for arrests

This is the UK. You get arrested for taking a plastic knife outside or making mean tweets.

https://www.theverge.com/2022/3/31/23004339/uk-twitter-user-...

Re: Anti-royal protesters are being arrested in the U.K. as 'Not My King' tag grows

#138

Post by inbox-demon »

bawolff wrote: post #122
kennend3 wrote: post #106

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think you missed his point. The public paid for this funeral, and therefor they have every right to participate in it. They should show some respect, it is a funeral after all. If they wanted a "private funeral" they should pay for one.

Is it your view that just because the state pays for something the public has every right to do whatever they want with it? This seems obviously false. Try walking into the petagon some time proclaiming "the public paid for this military base and therefor i have every right to participate in it." And see how far that gets you.

You can absolutely protest outside a military base and hurl insults at the soldiers if you believe it is a waste of taxpayer money.

Re: Anti-royal protesters are being arrested in the U.K. as 'Not My King' tag grows

#139

Post by dTal »

dijit wrote: post #9

They aren’t being arrested for being anti-monarchy though. They are being arrested for being rude about it. Was the fella on radio 4 who stated to the entire nation that ‘King Charles and his family should be put in a council house and that the Monarchy should be abolished’ arrested? No. If you are going to attend a funeral, any funeral, be it the Queen’s or anyone else’s and hurl abuse or hold up signs with obscenit…

Really.

A woman who held an “abolish monarchy” sign at a proclamation ceremony for King Charles III in Edinburgh has now been charged with a criminal offence.

That's not a funeral, nor was her political statement rude.

Re: Anti-royal protesters are being arrested in the U.K. as 'Not My King' tag grows

#140

Post by [deleted] »

googlryas wrote: post #26
AnimalMuppet wrote: post #3

For all its faults, I love the US. I can go downtown with a sign that says "Not my president", and I may get some cheers, may get some boos. What I won't get is arrested. This is true no matter who is president. Now, if I were saying this about President Harris, say, when she came to visit Biden's body while it was lying in state, that would be deplorable taste. It would be worse if my sign criticized Biden while his…

You can do that in the UK too, just not during a funeral procession. The US has laws against protesting at the funerals of Armed Service members. If you really want to rage against something, why not the thing from your own society, instead of the thing from some other society?

[deleted]
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