The weekend march which saw protesters storm Stirling’s Thistles shopping centre during a rally against Covid restrictions and vaccine passports was staged without permission from the police or the council.
In Wednesday’s Observer, we told how the rally left King’s Park but soon turned into an “unauthorised procession” that saw up to 300 activists march into the city centre and make their way into the Thistles.
Whilst there, shoppers allege that mothers were forced to flee into shops with their children as protesters made their way through the centre and one demonstrator was claimed to have snatched a mask from a stranger’s face.
However, police said that “no incidents took place and no arrests were made”.
Stirling Area Commander, Chief Inspector Gill Marshall this week said that the event was staged without any consultation between the organisers and officers.
Speaking at Stirling Council’s Public Safety Committee yesterday (Thursday), she told how the marchers had failed to obtain permission to stage the procession ahead of the event.
She said: “Police Scotland became aware of the plans for a group of anti-vaccination protesters to hold a static protest within King’s Park in Stirling. That became aware to us through intelligence sources and at no point throughout this entire situation have we had contact from anybody pertaining to be the organiser or planner of the event. It then became clear as we monitored that intelligence that there was indeed an intention to move from King’s Park and to undertake a march.
“Because we had no formal contact, there was no confirmation of what that route would be or what the planned march would consist of in terms of time or length.
"Protest liaison officers were then deployed to the march.”
Click here for more news and sport from the Stirling area.
CI Marshall added: “This is a group of officers who would normally make that contact with organisers and people who would normally make approaches to the council for permissions etc. so they tried to engage with the group via various means.
“In the main, because the legislation around about preventing marches and unauthorised marches requires any warning or engagement around about the consequences of unauthorised marches to be delivered to an organiser, a named individual, which we haven’t had in relation to this protest.”
Stirling Council confirmed that no permission was granted for the procession.
A council spokesperson said: “The organisers of this event did not engage with the council, nor follow the notification process for undertaking such an event, and therefore no permission was granted.”
When the protesters began marching towards the city centre, it was decided that, following a risk assessment and in the interest of public safety, the best option was to allow the procession to progress.
Officers had also given bosses at the Thistles warning that a procession may take place on the day.
Speaking at the council meeting, Dunblane and Bridge of Allan Green councillor Alasdair Tollemache asked whether allowing the procession to take place would set precedent for future protests. He said: “I understand the law and I understand you need a named individual, but doesn’t this set a precedent, because for those people who potentially don’t want to come under the legislation they could say ‘We won’t contact the police or council’ and just go on the day?”
Stirling North Tory councillor, Ross Oxburgh questioned whether those who took part in the march could face police action. He said: “I understand the logic behind once the march has started just letting it run its course. What that means, in practice, is that people who take part in marches and don’t play by the rules there’s no consequences at all.
“Will there be any next steps to identify the people who took part in what was, in effect, an illegal march and to take any type of action against them?”
CI Marshal said that there is “intelligence around about these people so that doesn’t stop just because they have completed their time in Stirling”. She added that officers will continue to “monitor intelligence feeds” and share information with other forces.
Councillor Oxburgh went on to ask whether CCTV footage from the Thistles could be used to get to the bottom of the matter. CI Marshall confirmed that this is an option that is still open to officers.
Councillor Chris Kane welcomed the work of the police during the march, adding: “I completely disagree with what the march was about, but I completely agree with the right to protest and I’m struggling with trying to bring these two things together.”
He told CI Marshall: “I think you did a very good job.”
