Hundreds of protesters marched on a London police station in solidarity with a black teenager who was punished by officers during her period after a false charge of drug possession.
Crowds gather outside Stoke Newington Police Station, in north London, on Friday afternoon during the protest, which was triggered by the treatment of a schoolgirl known as Child Q.
The student, who was 15 at the time, was forced to undergo a cavity search by Metropolitan Police officers in 2020 after teachers at a Hackney Secondary school called the force into the premises.
She was striped by officers – who knew she was menstruating – after teachers suspected the girl was in possession of cannabis, a security report said.
Child Q’s mother was not informed of the search, while teachers remained outside the room while it took place. This came weeks after the teenager was wrongly accused by staff of drug possession and threatened with eviction.
The teenager and family have now launched civil action against the force in their school, law firm Bhatt Murphy announced Friday.
Protesters gathered on Friday chanted “No justice, no peace, abolition of police” and “racist police, out of schools” at the police station.
Several speakers addressed the people, including Ngozi Fulani, founder of Sistah Space and a spokesman for the activist group Forever Family, Denise Henry, co-founder of the Naditional Education Union Black Educators Network, and Chantelle Lunt, a former black police officer and a founder of Merseyside BLM Alliance. Politicians including local MPs Diane Abbott and Mandu Reid – leader of the Women’s Equality Party – were also present.
Some students who said they were at the same school where the search took place also spoke, as well as children from some campaigns who stood up to show their support. A girl, not older than five years, said, “We will all stand together to stop racism.”
“You’ll just take away the dignity of a 15-year-old girl like that and nothing will happen? That’s a problem. And where are these cops now – they’re at work, still getting paid,” the anti-knife said. Campaign Faron Alex Paul de Leit.
“We may be angry, but it will require persistence and organization to deal with these people. We live in England; it is a truly racist country. One minute we are uneasy – George Floyd – and then the next it is quiet. Then this . “
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Mr Paul interrupted two police officers at the train station, who were watching the protest from the upper floor. Officers look at us now and think ‘do not worry, they will leave tomorrow’.
A former educator said she became a teacher in the 1990s and expects to attend the weddings and graduations of her students – but instead goes to jail time and attends the funerals of black boys who are ex-students.
Speaking to people, one mother urged parents to plead with their children at all times – especially in their schools. “We have to sit in those schools and stop these teachers from leaving our children parents because they are not their parents – we are,” she said. “Moms need to step in and confront that teacher when our kids complain.”
People from the masses also held up signs that read “No to racist police, justice to child Q” and “We say no to police in schools”, as well as Black Lives Matter banners. They also sang “Shame on you” at officers outside the station.
Addressing the participants, a teacher explained that she had not been in the classroom in three years because she refused to be an “agent of state violence”, adding that the academies would be given autonomy to “act as agents of the police”.
Talk to The Independent After the protest, activist and singer Jermaine Jackman said: “There is a lot of anger in the air. There is a lot of anger at protests but this was especially rooted in a room of disgust and disbelief that we are here again. Of exhaustion. We have the right to be angry. We have the right to be here. “
People outside Stoke Newington Police Station in London
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Mr Jackman, who is also president of Black Men 4 Change, added: “This is two years ago and it is now that the review came out – that is not justice. That is just light years – so when will the family get justice? and when will our community heal?
“Today was a time to express anger, to learn, to gather knowledge and to stand in solidarity with one another and say ‘enough is enough’. But we must pursue this with change and action.
Adam Pugh, an activist and former Met police officer who left the force in 2014 due to concerns about racism, was also present and said The Independent: “For me, everything in this case is disturbing.
“At what point would we just say that enough is enough? For the past two years, there has been violation after violation; from the (handling of) pandemic and Sarah Everard to the Met police officers taking selfies with the dead of black women Nicola Smallman and take Bibaa Henry.
“You can not reform the police – it should be abolished and the money spent on the police should be diverted back to the communities. The safest communities in London are not the ones that are the most policing; they are the ones with the most resources. We’re always talking about bad apples; how many worse apples do we need to hear about? The whole apple basket is rotten, so it does not matter how many good apples there are.
Child Q’s case has sparked national outrage with London Mayor Sadiq Khan, who shares his “disappointment and fears” and campaigner Patrick Vernon describes the incident as “state rape”. Further protests are planned over the weekend in London, Glasgow and Cardiff ahead of UN Anti-Racism Day on 21 March.
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