IN STARK contrast to a similar demo outside Truro Cathedral in July when all eight silent protesters were arrested, Devon and Cornwall Police chose not to intervene and detain any of the elderly protesters taking part in a vigil to support Palestine Action in the city today (Saturday, October 4). The event was the first of two demonstrations in Truro by groups standing in solidarity with the Palestinian people.

Both events took place despite police advising protests in support of proscribed group Palestine Action, including one in Trafalgar Square, to delay in light of the attack on the Manchester synagogue on Thursday.

The six protesters, who as with all the previous protests organised by Defend Our Juries, held signs saying “I oppose genocide. I support Palestine Action”. This would have got them arrested previously, but this time there was very little police presence and none of the demonstrators were detained.

However, according to eyewitnesses, a man who aggressively heckled the group was cuffed and taken away after striking a police liaison officer, who fell to the floor hitting his head. Members of the public and several of those taking part in the vigil assisted the officer. The vigil continued in silence throughout the fracas.

A spokesperson for the Network for Police Monitoring (Netpol) said: “The actions of Devon and Cornwall Police today exposes the policing priorities of the Metropolitan Police and this government. The protest in Truro shows that it is down to individual police forces to choose where they direct their resources and the Met is clearly showing that their priority is arresting peaceful pensioners sitting with placards.

“Over the last two days, there has been an ongoing smear campaign to conflate pro-Palestine protests with the horrendous anti-Semitic actions of the Manchester attacker, with politicians and pundits manipulatively and cynically using what happened to try to undermine people protesting a genocide by a far-right Israeli government.”

Betty Levene, one of the sitters, said: “I felt obligated both as a human being and as a Jew to protest the genocide today. Having fasted on Yom Kippur – a day of reflection and atonement – it felt even more urgent not to simply think and feel, but to act on those reflections.”

Mat, a spokesperson for Kernow Defend Our Juries, said: “In stark contrast to the Metropolitan Police, Devon and Cornwall Police decided not to make any arrests. Instead the force sent two police liaison officers who described the demo as ‘lovely and peaceful’ and defended people’s right to protest.

“This decision also undermines the repeated mainstream media, political and policing narratives that the Met Police have been left with no choice other than use their resources to arrest what could be over 1,000 people in Trafalgar Square. There have been repeated calls, including from Keir Starmer, for Defend Our Juries to postpone its London protest so that police can concentrate their resources on protecting Jewish communities following the Manchester attack. However, Devon and Cornwall Police have also said that they will prioritise protecting Jewish communities and have made a clear choice regarding their policing priorities.”

He added: “As ten Kernow citizens take the same action with over 1,500 others in Trafalgar Square today, six people sat down on the steps of Truro Cathedral, with placards expressing their refusal to comply with the absurd proscription of Palestine Action as a ‘terrorist organisation’. Faced with a government tearing up what remains of an international rules-based order as it continues to actively collaborate in an ongoing genocide, we refuse to comply with its blatant abuse of the Terrorism Act 2000 to proscribe a non-violent citizen campaign standing in a proud, decades-long tradition of damaging weapons of war to prevent their use in crimes against humanity.”

A couple of hours after the silent vigil on High Cross, campaigners from Palestine Solidarity Cornwall (PSC) and 20 local groups gathered across the city on Lemon Quay to “protest against the ongoing genocide the Israeli government is perpetrating against Palestinian people in Gaza, which will reach its second year on October 7”.

The demonstration featured a variety of speakers, including people from the Palestinian community, Jewish people and representatives from local and national organisations. They then marched through the city carrying Palestine flags.

A Devon and Cornwall Police spokesperson said: “Identified criminal offences at any protests will be recorded and investigated, but that may not require our officers to make arrests at that time. How any situation is dealt with at the time will depend on what our officers are presented with on a case-by-case basis.”

The spokesperson confirmed a Protest Liaison Officer was assaulted by a member of the public in Truro on Saturday and sustained minor injuries. A man in his 20s from Bodmin was arrested and has been released on bail while enquiries continue.