London: Two blind men were among hundreds of protesters arrested in Trafalgar Square in London on Saturday, October 4, during a peaceful demonstration opposing genocide and defying the government’s ban on supporting the activist group Palestine Action.
The protest, organised by the campaign group Defend Our Juries, drew over a thousand participants who sat silently, many holding placards reading, “I oppose genocide. I support Palestine Action.”
Police detained participants under the UK’s Terrorism Act, which makes public support for the banned organisation a criminal offence.
Among those arrested was Mike Higgins, 62-year-old, a blind and wheelchair-bound campaigner who has previously been detained twice for similar acts of protest.
Speaking before his arrest, Higgins said he did not believe Prime Minister Keir Starmer should be targeting peaceful demonstrators. “If we’re not terrorists, then leave us alone. Let us protest. Let us demonstrate for the right to freedom,” he said.
Video footage shared on social media also showed another blind man being led away by police officers while using a mobility cane.
Defend Our Juries said officers had “arrested peaceful citizens for silently opposing genocide,” and called the government’s proscription of Palestine Action “absurd and undemocratic.” The group, which has condemned the recent attack on the Jewish community in Manchester, urged police to “protect people from real violence instead of criminalising conscience.”
Amnesty International UK described the arrests as “a shocking violation of freedom of expression,” warning that the UK’s terrorism laws are “excessively broad, vaguely worded, and a threat to democracy.”
According to the Police Federation, nearly 500 people were arrested during the Trafalgar Square demonstration — one of the largest acts of civil disobedience since the ban on Palestine Action was introduced.
Campaigners vowed to continue peaceful resistance until the ban is overturned, saying they will “not be silenced for standing against injustice.”
