It is an ‘us versus them’ mentality, even more so this week with Kill the Bill protests in Bristol returning this violent behaviour back on the police. Immediately condemned as an example of “thuggery and disorder” by Priti Patel – whereas scenes at Clapham were merely “upsetting” –, Shadow Home Secretary Nick Thomas-Symonds also voiced his disgust with the view that “there is no excuse whatsoever for this violence.”

Throughout this pandemic, we have witnessed the impact of a global ‘blame culture’, such as wrongly attributing COVID-19 spikes to student’s ‘selfish’ misbehaviour and their generalised ‘sense of ignorance’. But perhaps what is now also becoming clear are other, contemporary means of absolving state responsibility in the form of exploiting a new sense of ‘excuse culture’. No, there is no excuse for violence, neither from rioters in Bristol, nor police in Clapham and yet, we are still refused an apology from the latter. The force’s deputy commissioner, Sir Stephen House told the London assembly that whilst people felt upset, he simply “can’t apologise for my officers”. Where we should see an obvious violation of human rights and an abuse of police power, through the lens of a global pandemic, we are attempting to be shown a necessary means of establishment escalation of power for our own protection. 

Yes, COVID-19 has let us all slacken the rope. An unusual year, to say the least, everyone has adjusted to the idea that not everything can be what you make it. Big hopes for new jobs, university, travel have not gone to plan and when a future employer asks you to explain this period of inactivity, “the issue of a hiring freeze”, “I was kept on furlough”, “I chose to focus on pursuing participation in online courses”, or “I needed to take a break to prioritise my mental health” will be perfectly respectable answers. What is not okay, however, is using the pandemic to excuse behaviours that were already there. Where lack of jobs, overwhelmed parenting, and increased mental health concerns can be directly linked to a rise in lockdown measures, unjust policing is not an inevitable consequence of this pandemic. 

Excessive force to implement lockdowns and curfews are receiving false justification in the name of preserving public health. Returning to the scenes at Clapham Common, Assistant Commissioner Helen Ball explained how “Hundreds of people were packed tightly together, posing a very real risk of easily transmitting COVID-19.” Although this is understandable (despite evidence showing that outdoor, masked protests are not considered super-spreader events), I am sure that adding a large team of officers into the mix did not reduce the infection risk. Another justification was the threat of violence: glass could be heard breaking and twenty-six frontline officers claimed they were assaulted, punched, kicked and spat at. But, ironically, pictures obtained showing these instances demonstrate the perpetrators were men, not the female protesters present. In further aims to detract from police behaviour, calls from the Victim’s Commissioner, Dame Vera Baird have been made to “return to the issue”. Okay, great, right? Are (male) police officers pressing women to the ground not encapsulated by this? Violence against women sits under the umbrella of police brutality: we are very much focused on the right issue in addressing this event.