Police Presence Cows Hokey-Cokey
On two Sunday mornings earlier this month, some scores of local protesters gathered at and around the bandstand in Alexandra Park to demonstrate their opposition to lockdown measures. They made a point of not wearing masks and avoiding social distancing guidance by holding hands and dancing the hokey-cokey.
However, last Sunday (28th March), following fierce criticisms from Hastings Borough Council and a public statement by the park café eat@thePark located opposite the bandstand that they would delay opening on Sunday mornings so as to disassociate themselves from the demos, four police officers maintained guard around the stand with clear intent to intervene in the event of repetition. No gathering took place, though the park was busy with visitors, not all of whom appeared to be undertaking exercise in conformity with lockdown rules.
PICTURE: Hugh Sullivan
Deputy leader of the council Cllr Colin Fitzgerald had said earlier: “I was very disappointed indeed to see the large group meeting in the park to protest. We all remember how the town did very well in the ‘first wave’ last year because of the hard work everybody did to comply, and then how difficult it became later in the year when the town suffered much more, with over 200 deaths, mainly because of the ‘Kent variant.’
“None of us want to go back to those awful days of December and January, and I would urge people to stay away from this kind of large gathering. If necessary we will have no hesitation at all in involving the police, but I hope that common sense will prevail. We have come so far, let’s not wreck our hard work now.”
No one has claimed responsibility for organising the demos – hardly surprising since any such individual organiser would face a fine of up to £10,000 under current legislation.
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