章 30: Chaos on the Streets
The unity of the crowd after singing 'You'll Never Walk Alone' was a powerful thing to behold. There was so much love and hope rippling through the crowd. Every single person at that march was there to help humanity and to stand up against tyranny. The majority of them would fight to the end for what they believed in and for freedom itself. That moment was something that Darren, Sakura and Jan would never forget and in darker days that were to come they would think of that point in time and it would give them the courage to fight on.
Darren put his arms around his Mum and with great emotion she said 'I feel Emma is with us Darren'.
'I know Mum, I know, I feel her too,' he replied and hugged his Mum closer. They stood together with Sakura watching them, moved by the sight of the closeness they shared.
In Hayes Victoria sat in the living room watching the march on her iPad and she had also been moved to tears. She wished she was with them and she felt she was there in spirit along with her sister Emma. She felt Emma's presence and knew she was side by side with them. It was a powerful spiritual feeling that filled her with hope and a warm feeling of love.
After some more speeches the crowd started to head back to Hyde park. The mood was high with so much eye contact between people and so many smiling faces. As they made their way one guy shouted out to Jan 'Hey beautiful' and she blushed. She hadn't had a compliment in a long time and it felt good.
They chatted to so many people and especially because Darren was getting recognized. More than once somebody had asked if she was his sister so by the time they were on the way to Hyde park she was feeling very good about herself. She felt so proud of her son and the work he was trying to do and was overwhelmed at the support he was receiving.
As she and Sakura chatted to a small group of women Darren was filming the crowd. Then things happened really quickly as a big group of police in bright yellow high-vis jackets and baseball caps rushed through the crowd separating Jan and Sakura from Darren. Suddenly they grabbed Darren and pushed him to the ground and he landed with a loud thud. It was so violent and out of the blue that at first neither Jan or Sakura realized what had happened.
In an instant they were on the outside of a huge circle of police separated from Darren who was laying on the cold grey concrete with at least four riot police holding him down. They could hear him shouting as he struggled to get free but the police had overpowered him with overwhelming force and he didn't stand a chance.
The crowd were incensed at this brutality and all started shouting 'Shame on You! Shame on You!' pointing at the police and getting louder and louder as more protestors joined in. Jan was terrified along with Sakura and both of them tried to get through to Darren but it was impossible.
'I'm his mother,' Jan shouted. 'What are you doing he has done nothing wrong!' Jan was incensed. how could this be happening. She knelt down and shouted between the police 'Darren, Darren are you ok?' 'Its okay mum I'm alright.' Darren shouted back.
Jan could see that her son was trying to be brave as he lay their with his hands cuffed behind his back and a cop straddling him. As they dragged him up to standing Jan could see the fear on her son's face. The crowd had grown bigger and the chant had got louder. 'Shame on You! Shame on You!'
Sakura, with tears running down her pretty face, was shouting at the police. 'Leave him alone he hasn't done anything. Leave him alone!' she sobbed. The police showed no emotion as they kept the tight circle around Darren and moved as one as they dragged him towards a waiting police van. Jan and Sakura could see that he was really shook up and his green parka had been ripped open and his tshirt was torn. His face had gone white with shock.
The police were doing their best to obstruct the crowds view but one of the women that Jan had been speaking to managed to film the whole thing from the moment they had pounced on him. Everyone was trying to support and help Jan and Sakura promising to send footage to Darren's site. As they threw Darren roughly into the van and slammed the door shut Jan became hysterical.
'This is wrong!' she shouted. One of the police told her they could go down to the station.
'Which station? why have you arrested him? He wasn't doing anything!' The young police man looked at her with what felt like hatred and only replied: 'West End Central you will find him there'.
Sakura was already searching the location on her phone and a crowd were standing around the two of them offering support.
'It's not far Jan I know how to get there,' said Sakura as she grabbed Jan's arm and steered her out of the crowd. As they headed towards Savile Row neither of them could believe what had just happened.
'Stay calm Jan it's going to be okay,' Sakura said taking charge of the situation when she realized Jan was on the point of losing it.
'They cant charge him with anything,' she reassured Jan.
As they neared the police station both women realized they didn't know what they were meant to do. A small crowd had gathered outside, relatives and friends of innocent people like Darren that had been dragged of the street. As they reached the door they were stopped by the police and told they couldn't enter.
'My sons in there!' Jan shouted.
'Well you have to wait outside Madam,' she was told.
They went over to the group of people and realized they were all in the same boat. One girl was sitting on the pavement crying her eyes out and Jan went and sat with her.
'It's my sister,' she sobbed 'they arrested her for doing nothing they just knocked her to the ground and dragged her off. She's been in their for hours.'
As they spoke Jan and Sakura realized it was the women they had seen at the start of the march. It was then they realized this was going to be a long wait. At one point two police came over to the small crowd and suggested they went home and waited there.
'How long is this going to take then?' Jan shouted 'You cant just keep innocent people detained withput charge.'
Her comments were just ignored. Meanwhile Darren was being questioned inside the police station. He knew his rights. He had repeatedly demanded to know if he was being arrested and what charges were being brought against him. They had asked him his name over again and he had refused to give stating that he hadn't broken any law.
This was going around and around and Darren knew full well that they knew exactly who he was. You breached the lockdown law he was told and Darren repeated that he hadn't broken any law. Darren explained that the right to protest is a human right protected by law.
'Are you going to charge me?' Darren demanded loudly, 'because if not then you had better release me now. I will prosecute you for unlawful arrest.'
They left him sitting in the station and ignored him for three hours. Jan and Sakura waited outside in the cold. Sakura had gone and got some coffees with the girl who's sister was detained. Her name was Sarah and her sister was called Jo. They had both traveled down from Cardiff and her sister who had been arrested was a well known figure in the freedom movement .
They all stood together in a group chatting and friendships were made that day that would last a lifetime. It only made them more determined to fight what they now all saw as absolute evil. They shared their views this group of strangers and when finally, a woman was released and the two sisters hugged they all cheered. She had been released with no charge and after exchanging numbers with Jan and Sakura they headed home to Cardiff.
When Darren was finally released with no charge the crowd cheered. The police had instructed him that he should go home immediately and that if he was seen in or around Hyde Park he would be arrested again and detained.
Jan and Sakura at this point were frozen it had been 4 hours waiting in the cold and they now headed back to the car in the dark. Jan called Victoria and explained everything. Victoria had prepared a comforting roast dinner knowing they would all be starving when they finally got in and she wanted to hear everything that had happened.
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