As the Canary reported overnight, police violently arrested what we now know to be 86 people who were peacefully protesting at Wormwood Scrubs prison. The demonstrators had gathered in a show of support for political prisoner Umer Khalid, who has added a thirst strike to his ongoing hunger strike against the Starmer regime’s contempt for Palestinian lives and UK justice. One of those the Met arrested was Canary videographer Ibrahim Abul-Essad, who was there working as a journalist.

However, what has happened since has been a coordinated attack by the state and corporate media on the protesters, which is pushing an entirely false narrative of events.

Wormwood Scrubs: what the state and MSM are saying

The corporate media has been widely reporting on the Wormwood Scrubs incident. As Sky News reported:

A total of 86 people have been arrested after a group of protesters supporting a Palestine Action-linked activist on hunger strike at Wormwood Scrubs breached the prison grounds, police have said.

The group refused to leave the grounds when told to do so, allegedly blocking prison staff from entering and leaving, and threatening police officers, the Metropolitan Police said.

The Met said several of them also managed to get inside a staff entrance area of a prison building…

The group have been arrested on suspicion of aggravated trespass, the force said in an update on Sunday.

The Ministry of Justice has even felt the need to issue a statement on the incident. It said:

The escalation of the protest at HMP Wormwood Scrubs is completely unacceptable. While we support the right to peacefully protest, reports of trespassing and threats being made to staff and police officers are deeply concerning.

At no point was prison security compromised, however where individuals’ actions cause risk or actual harm to hardworking staff, this will not be taken lightly and those responsible can expect to face consequences.

Predictably, this is far removed from what actually happened.

The reality

In short, some protesters did get into the car parking and public – yes, public – access areas of Wormwood Scrubs. This is not unusual as protesters have done this on multiple occasions before. When this has happened in the past, the Met Police have stood by and done nothing. However, on this occasion a handful of protesters did gain access to a staff lobby area of the prison. However, they were at no point threatening staff or police.

As has always been the case with the protests for hunger strikers, people were merely asking for the prison to take action to ensure the safety and wellbeing of Umer Khalid – as multiple pieces of footage online show.

People were in there for a matter of minutes. What then transpired was disproportionate and clearly a pre-meditated op by the Met Police.

At around 10pm, police ‘kettled’ the protesters, preventing them from leaving peacefully. Canary sources on the ground say police then started picking off protesters one by one. Cops were heard saying ‘arrest now, find evidence later’.

This whole operation lasted until gone 3am on Sunday 25 January – by at which point, the majority of the people in the kettle were arrested. This includes countless people who did NOT enter the grounds of Wormwood Scrubs and were on the pavement outside – or people who did, but left when the Met told them too.

The Met have taken the detainees to over a dozen sites across London – yet have not informed anyone where they are. Moreover, they are refusing to release details of which detainee is at what station. The Canary has even had parents of people arrested reaching out to us, desperate for information.

“Frightening” at Wormwood Scrubs

The Canary spoke to one eye-witness who was at Wormwood Scrubs but was not arrested. They told us:

I saw a demonstration advertised online for a protest in support of Umer Khalid, who is on day three of a thirst strike. It was raining heavily, and I arrived late, around 9pm. At this time, there was a heavy police presence; I counted at least five white police vans. Protestors were chanting and banging drums as they usually do. There was an air of peaceful resilience, but the number of police definitely added an edge of tension.

After a few minutes, one of the protestors announced that they would all leave peacefully together. They started moving towards the front gate, at which point the police began to form up outside and create a cordon. As the protestors left the prison, the police informed them that they had committed a crime and would not be allowed to leave.

At this time, a further three Territorial Support Group (TSG) vans arrived. The crowd linked arms and waited for hours in the freezing, pouring rain, as snatch squads waded in again and again, violently dragging, punching and throwing people to the floor. Even as observers to the scene, it was very frightening to witness. It didn’t seem at all like a proportionate reaction to a group of non-violent people.

A pre-planned operation by the Met

What is clear from all this is that this was a pre-planned operation by the Met Police. It was done with the intention of picking off as many of London’s grassroots pro-Palestine activists as possible. The group Prisoners for Palestine had widely publicised this demo on social media. Well-known activists were present. Up until this point, the Met has struggled to take action against these protesters and the protests.

However, it clearly saw an opportunity and went for it. It is likely the state and the pro-Israel lobby pushed for this – as prominent Zionist agitators were celebrating the arrests online.

As always with British police, the response to the peaceful protest at Wormwood Scrubs was completely disproportionate. Protesters did not threaten cops or prison staff. They did not damage any property. Nor did protesters injure any police or prison staff.

This was the state seeing its chance to cut the head off the London pro-Palestine movement in one fell swoop. Of course, what it fails to realise is that there are more of us than there are of them. Yes, some prominent activists – and a Canary journalist – are locked up. However, people are already planning the next steps in not only the ongoing campaign for the hunger strikers, but for the pro-Palestine movement more broadly.

Featured image and additional images via the Canary

By The Canary

This post was originally published on Canary.