At least two people were reportedly arrested Sunday for protesting the monarchy during the proclamation of King Charles III.
A 22-year-old female protester got arrested outside the St. Giles Cathedral Sunday during the proclamation of King Charles III in Edinburgh, Scotland, Metro reported. A photograph shows the protester holding a sign with “f*ck imperialism, abolish monarchy” written on it.
As officers took her away, one man allegedly shouted that the police violated her free speech, while others in the crowd reportedly applauded her arrest and demanded she have respect. A Police Scotland spokesperson said she breached the peace on the Royal Mile, according to Holyrood, a Scotland-based news outlet.
A crowd gathered at the location to watch the coffin of the late Queen Elizabeth II arrive in the Scottish capital from Balmoral on its continuing journey to London, where the funeral is scheduled to be held Sept. 19.
Symon Hill, a self-described author and activist, claimed he got arrested Sunday in Oxford for expressing his opposition to the king’s proclamation. As he entered a crowd and heard the proclamation being read, he reportedly called out “Who elected him [Charles]?” He told a few people that a “head of state was being imposed on us without our consent,” according to a statement posted to his website.
A security guard then approached Hill and ordered him to be quiet, followed by two more security guards, Hill wrote. The police reportedly took him away, eventually handcuffing him and placing him in the back of a police van. They later reportedly un-arrested him but told him they wanted to interview him, to which Hill replied he would only do so with a lawyer present.
“What other freedoms can be suppressed in the name of monarchy? Who else will be arrested under the vile Police, Crime, Sentencing & Courts Act? I am relatively lucky: I will not be sacked from my job as a result of being arrested, or experience some of the consequences that others may face,” Hill wrote on his website. “If fear of arrest deters people from expressing their views, then these vile laws and draconian atmosphere will have significantly reduced free expression and harmed democracy, whether or not people are charged.”
“This isn’t about me,” Hill continued, according to the statement on his website. “It’s about our freedom to choose our own system of government, to elect our own leaders and to express our own views. I’m not asking you to support me. I’m asking you to support democracy.”
I was arrested today in #Oxford after I voiced my opposition to the proclamation of “#CharlesIII“. Can we be arrested simply for expressing an opinion in public? I was arrested under the Police Bill passed earlier this year. This is an outrageous assault on democracy.#NotMyKing
— Symon Hill (@SymonHill) September 11, 2022
Footage showed a security guard pushing an individual backwards from the crowd as he and several more heckled Prince Andrew by repeatedly screaming “God Save the King” during the Lord Lyon King of Arms’ speech, Metro reported. In the footage, the individual falls to the ground and then gets pulled up by the security guard. (RELATED: MSNBC Analyst Says Americans Only Care About Queen Because They Miss ‘Era Of Hereditary Privilege’)
“I’ve done nothing wrong,” the individual said as the officer led him into a tunnel behind the crowd, according to the video clip shared on Twitter. Another person in the crowd can be heard in the video demanding the officer get his “hands off him.”
Prince Andrew heckled as the Queen’s coffin passes pic.twitter.com/85m9jUgszF
— Christopher Marshall (@chrismarshll) September 12, 2022
The procession was led by several royals, including King Charles III; Queen Consort Camilla; Sophie, Countess of Wessex; Prince Andrew and Prince Edward, Holyrood reported. Some people could be heard booing at the event as they proclaimed King Charles III as the new head of state, and people could be heard calling for a republic as the national anthem played, the Edinburgh Evening News reported.