What Northumbria Police Didn't Want You to See (5 Years Later)

So the date that we're talking about where this incident happened was, uh, I think it was the week before or two weeks before, um, the 15th of August 2021.

And I found myself on the opposite side of the police, which was really, really strange for me.

I'm not someone who has much interaction with the police other than, you know, like someone...

Like me son had his bike stolen and, um, had some issues with the previous tenant who was in a house that I, I, um, lived in and then moved out of and rented out for a bit.

Um, and yeah.

So it was about this time that I started going, "What on earth? What are the police doing? Why are they against us?" So anyway, uh, so this, this time that I was at this protest and, um, the police were really hostile.

They would not let us walk down Northumberland Street.

We started off at the Civic Center.

If you know Newcastle, it's like the Haymarket.

It's, I think it's the north of the city.

And, um, we just wanted to walk down the main street with our placards and chanting and what have you, and the police wouldn't let us.

They were lined up at the top of, um, Northumberland Street, and they were on horses, and they wouldn't let us walk down the street.

And I wasn't well-versed with what we were and weren't allowed to do, but Like, I was like, "But I'm a, I'm a member of the public, and you're telling me I'm not allowed to walk down the street? That doesn't sound right." Um, anyway, our, our, um, gathering broke through the police lines.

We all did, and we did march down the street and, um, there was some interactions with some community police officers and, um, I think one of them thought I was pregnant because she said to me, "If you're vulnerable, you need to leave because this isn't a place for, for people who are vulnerable." Which I thought was an odd thing to say because...

I don't know.

The only thing I can think of is that she thought I was pregnant, which I wasn't, 'cause I was in mid-40s.

It's unlikely.

Um, anyway, [chuckles] I, uh, didn't wanna wear that outfit again.

Um, and, uh, we ended up, like, behind Central Station.

Like, so- some of the crowd tried to go through Eldon Square, the shopping center, and I don't know if they did or not, but the police weren't happy about that.

Um, we got stopped at Grey's Monument for quite a long time 'cause they just wouldn't-- Th- they didn't want us to move.

Um, they were ve- they were just really hostile.

They had, like, all their riot gear on.

Bearing in mind, uh, uh, yeah, that, that would help really explain why they were overreacting because, um, I was with a massive group of women.

There was, like, like, loads of us from this group that were all local.