Anti-knife protestors block Westminster bridge
- Text by Huck
- Photography by Theo McInnes
It’s been quite a week for protests in London, with Extinction Rebellion blocking Waterloo bridge, disrupting tube services, and holding court in the middle of Oxford Circus. But they weren’t the only ones taking the streets yesterday.
Just along the river, anti-knife crime demonstrators were also calling for action, blocking off Westminster Bridge to raise awareness of growing violence in the capital. The protest – dubbed #OperationShutdown – was urging the government to look into the root causes of the bloodshed; asking for an investigation into the effectiveness of school exclusions, as well as an examination of the UK’s prison sentencing and rehabilitation systems.
“I have witnessed murder since I was nine years old,” one of the organisers, Lucy Martindale, told Huck. “Growing up in Brixton, in a deprived area full of crime, I lost more and more friends with each year. I’m just totally sick of losing people to knife crime.”
Protestors were also critical of recent government funding cuts for community projects. Stefan Brown, who has spent the last eight years running anti-violence group Stop Our Kids Being Killed On The Street, highlighted it as one of the most damaging political decisions to emerge from the austerity era. “You’re closing down youth centres, all these places that kids go,” he said. “Kids are hanging out on the street, doesn’t mean they’re a gang, it means they’ve got nowhere to go.”
“There are children dropping dead every day – it’s not a black thing, it’s not a white thing, it’s all of us,” added rapper and activist Kaya H Osbourne. “It’s a class thing. If you’re not making a certain amount of money and you’re not living in an affluent area, that’s the reality.”
Photographer Theo McInnes headed down to Westminster Bridge on Wednesday to join the protest.
Follow Theo McInnes on Instagram.
Enjoyed this article? Like Huck on Facebook or follow us on Twitter.
You might like
Palestine Action ban ruling set for Supreme Court appeal
Final stand — Founder Huda Ammori has won permission to challenge the Court of Appeal’s verdict, which upheld the group’s proscription as a ‘terror organisation’.
Written by: Ella Glossop
Queer resistance & sun-soaked solidarity at the world’s largest trans pride march
Our Future, Our Fight — Over the weekend, over 150,000 people marched at the London Trans+ Pride, with the parade ending at Trafalgar Square for the first time in history.
Written by: Ella Glossop
London’s largest indoor skatepark to be demolished for padel courts
Better Extreme — The Barking skatepark’s fate follows that of similar indoor spaces in recent years, with operators GLL citing falling visitor numbers as the reason behind the decision.
Written by: Isaac Muk
Youthful joy & end-of-era poignancy at a London school prom
Leavers — For several years, Lewis Khan documented young people as they celebrated the last of their school days and the completion of their exams. The series is now collated in a new self-published photobook and short film.
Written by: Zoe Whitfield
In the pit at one of the UK’s last stock car & banger speedways
Stock Car Racing Isn’t Dead — Photographer Liam McCarthy spent time in and around the Arlington Raceway’s circuit, capturing the diehard community that keeps the sport alive.
Written by: Isaac Muk
A major Nan Goldin exhibition is coming to London
You Never Did Anything Wrong — Opening at the Hayward Gallery in November, the show will debut a new film from the artist and activist, alongside a slate of recent work.
Written by: Jack Dennison-Thompson
