The neighbour of a south London pub who defended a drag storytelling event from far-right protesters has told of his anger after being handcuffed by police and dragged before a judge for his actions.
Amardeep Singh Dhillon was convicted of a public order offence last month under controversial police powers following his arrest outside the Honor Oak pub in Forest Hill in June. He was initially detained under the Public Order Act 1986, which was amended in last year’s Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act.
Dhillon was there with a group of parents, kids and others from the local Lewisham community to counter-protest the right-wing organisation Turning Point UK, after it announced it sought to prevent a drag queen storytelling event for children from going ahead.
Dhillon told openDemocracy they had been standing peacefully in the road, having already seen off the far-right group, when police announced they were implementing a so-called section 14 order – meaning the police had deemed the assembly was posing a “serious disruption to the life of the community”.
While section 14 of the Public Order Act dates back to the 1980s, an amendment to it passed earlier this year lowered the threshold for protests to be classed as “serious disruption”, giving officers greater powers to restrict protests.
“I’m scared of the police, so I panicked,” said Dhillon. “I froze. Next thing I know, I’m in cuffs, searched and thrown in the back of a van.”
He added: “No section 14 was announced when the Nazis were there. The police didn’t seem to think that Nazis attacking people on the street was enough, but they did think that local parents and kids were.”
Far-right protesters have been picketing the Honor Oak Pub for six months over the venue’s monthly ‘Magical Storytelling’ session hosted by the drag queen That Girl. The protests have been primarily led by Turning Point – the UK branch of a US right-wing conservative organisation that has been praised by politicians including Jacob Rees-Mogg, Priti Patel and Nigel Farage.
Other far-right groups present at the protests have included self-proclaimed neo-Nazi groups Blood & Honour and Combat 18, alongside the notorious Football Lads Alliance and ex-members of the English Defence League (EDL) and British National Party (BNP).
“They are often football hooligans, often drunk, often men, often old, often racist,” said Dhillon.
“They are often football hooligans, often drunk, often men, often old, often racist”
In a statement on its website, the pub reassures people that the event is age-appropriate, family-friendly and no different from what families would experience in a theatre. “This event is an opportunity for families and friends to come together and listen to a reading of a storybook and have fun,” they say. “The most important thing for us is that everyone is safe and happy when they are here.”
Dhillon arrived at the pub at 7.30am on 24 June, where he said local community members had already sustained concussions and bruising at the hands of the far-right group, with one woman bleeding profusely. The Lewisham community had come out in force at 5am, ready to defend the event taking place later that morning.
But he said the atmosphere quickly turned jubilant as the community took the road, blaring a sound system to drown out the slurs calling them groomers and paedophiles. The far-right protesters left before the storytelling session even started – which was, said Dhillon, a first.
“It was a lovely community atmosphere – a real celebration of queer joy,” they added.
So it was “alarming and unexpected” when the police marched up to the victorious community outside the pub.
Previous protests have finished at midday to coincide with the end of the storytelling event. “The police have always known this,” said Dhillon. “So it was a massive escalation to march towards us half an hour before the protest was due to end.”
Dhillon said he felt he had been targeted and racialised by the police. “There were multiple other white people in the road at the time of the arrest [who weren’t arrested]. It seems obvious to me that being brown and femme was a factor.”
Arrested during Pride month, Dhillon pointed out the double standards as the police were at pains to keep asking about their pronouns and gender identity (Dhillon uses both they/them and he/him). “They even asked if I would prefer to be searched by a female officer, so they could be inclusive while cuffing, searching, detaining and charging me.”
Dhillon ultimately received an “absolute discharge”, meaning no further action will be taken. He still, however, has a criminal record.
They described themself as “very lucky” to have the support of their local community, members of whom came to stand outside the court in his defence and helped raise money for his legal fees and other costs. “Someone without the connections, resources and support networks that I had could never have been in a position to contest this kind of prosecution,” they said.
Dhillon drew parallels with the people attacked by police at Clapham Common during a vigil for Sarah Everard, who was murdered by serving officer Wayne Couzens, in 2021. “What links the cases is that they both relied on the expansion of police discretionary powers,” he explained.
One of the Clapham Common victims, Patsy Stevenson, was last week awarded substantial damages and a formal apology following a lengthy legal battle with the Metropolitan Police. Stevenson was pinned down and dragged away by police at the Clapham Common vigil for Sarah Everard, who was kidnapped, raped and murdered by Couzens in March 2021.
At Clapham Common, police had been given additional powers through Covid legislation restricting public gatherings. At the Honor Oak Pub, it was the redefinition of “serious disruption”.
“Most of the violence that the police do is completely legal,” said Dhillon. “Police could not exist without wide-ranging discretionary powers.”
“Most of the violence that the police do is completely legal. Police could not exist without wide-ranging discretionary powers”
Local MP Vicky Foxcroft has slammed the group Turning Point UK for its ongoing protests and asked the prime minister to condemn the hatred and division they stoke. Rishi Sunak, in response, has said in Parliament that everyone deserves respect and “people should be allowed to gather freely within the bounds of the law”.
Meanwhile, a borough-wide public space protection order in Lewisham has been proposed by the council, which may make it even harder for groups to gather in the streets. Officers claim that the new powers will help tackle antisocial behaviour by issuing £100 on-the-spot fines to street drinkers and fixed penalty notices for “amplified speech or music in open space,” along with “illegal encampments”. Critics like Dhillon, however, warn that in reality it will help criminalise Gypsy, Roma and Traveller communities, homeless people and peaceful protesters.
“We have to be careful not to exceptionalise the exercise of police powers in protest situations when Black, Brown and working class communities are faced with these violences on a daily basis,” said Dhillon.
Griff Ferris, who also attended the counter-protest and witnessed Dhillon’s arrest, said the community had been with him every step of the way: “The public gallery in the court was packed with Amar’s supporters.”
Ferris said that “locals like Dhillon have been integral in galvanising anti-fascist support and stopping the far-right from ever coming close to their target,” adding: “The arrest and prosecution of a queer person of colour for celebrating protecting their community shows how easily these new protest laws will be used to suppress even the most minor dissent.
“The state’s actions here shows its complicity with the far-right’s violent homophobia and transphobia at what are openly anti-LGBTQ+ protests.”
The Met confirmed a second person, Jamie Turvey, had been charged with “using words to cause harassment, alarm or distress (contrary to Section 5 of the Public Order Act)” in connection with events on 24 June.
Two other people arrested on suspicion of assault have been bailed, the force added.
