St Paul’s OK’d Occupy London eviction

A video obtained by The Independent shows that the bailiffs and police officers who were forcibly evicting the anti-capitalist protesters said they had permission from the cathedral’s officials to remove the protesters from the building’s steps.

As the riot police started to forcibly evict the protesters, the anti-capitalist demonstrators thought they would be safe on the steps of the cathedral as they stood outside the area marked by the ‘eviction border.’

Nevertheless, the riot police dragged the protesters away from the cathedral’s steps as they were praying.

“I was removed three times by police from the steps whilst I was praying. It was deeply shocking. One of the questions that must be answered is, ‘when did St Paul’s give permission to the police to evict praying Christians from the cathedral’s steps?’” said Symon Hill, an anti-capitalist protester, in an interview with The Independent.

However, the cathedral has denied the allegations that officials from the church had permitted the riot police to remove protesters from the building’s steps.

Meanwhile, the cathedral released a statement in the wake of the eviction which clearly welcomed the removal of the protesters’ camp while trying to save face by expressing regret over the fact that the eviction was conducted by bailiffs.

“We regret the camp had to be removed by bailiffs but we are fully committed to continuing to promote these issues [issues about social and economic justice] through our worship, teaching and [the St Paul’s] Institute,” read the church’s statement.

Rev Canon Giles Fraser, a church clergyman who resigned from St Paul’s over the cathedral’s stance on the anti-capitalist movement, said, “Riot police clearing the steps of St Paul’s Cathedral was a terrible sight.”

ISH/HN/HE

Views: 0

You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.

Leave a Reply

Powered by WordPress | Designed by: Premium WordPress Themes | Thanks to Themes Gallery, Bromoney and Wordpress Themes