Fans Are Fuming After A Protester Gets Arrested Over King Charles
After the death of his mother Queen Elizabeth II, Prince Charles became King Charles III on September 8, 2022 (via Cosmopolitan). His wife Camilla became queen consort, and his son William and daughter-in-law Catherine the new Prince and Princess of Wales. Though it has only been a matter of days, his reign has been marked by turbulence already.
Speaking to The Independent, protestor Symon Hill claimed he was arrested after he called out "Who elected him?" during a ceremony to celebrate the proclamation of Charles as king. The incident, which took place in Oxford, left Hill shaken. He claims to have been holding no signs and only uttered the three words
The arrest took place after Hill was told to "shut up" by others in the crowd. "I didn't insult them or attack them personally, but responded by saying that a head of state was being imposed on us without our consent," he wrote for the blog Bright Green.
Security guards then pushed him back before police stepped in and arrested him. Though Hill was let go, he was told by police he would be called for an interview in the future with a lawyer present.
People have been calling the arrest an abuse of police power
Another arrest took place in Edinburgh, where a young woman was seen holding up an anti-monarchy sign (via Metro). Edinburgh Live shared that Police Scotland had made the arrest outside of St Giles' Cathedral, where the queen's coffin is currently being held before being moved to London for her funeral. Another man was arrested for heckling Prince Andrew as the royal accompanied his mother's coffin in a procession through Edinburgh (via The Independent).
After the arrests, people took to Twitter to discuss their thoughts — and most were negative."This is the inevitable result of giving police more and unrestricted powers to stop protest," wrote one person. Another argued, "We live in a police state which decides to arrest & jail people who don't accept the British way, the royals & fascism." The arrests have left some in fear of the future, with one person tweeting, "Are we really going to arrest more people just for daring to question the unelected? I fear we will."
The main consensus appeared to be that the arrests went against the democratic nature of the U.K., and that people should be allowed to express their beliefs freely.