British police have arrested 86 people outside a London prison following a demonstration in support of a Palestinian activist on a life-threatening hunger and thirst strike, in an incident campaigners describe as a violent crackdown on solidarity. The protest at HMP Wormwood Scrubs on Saturday escalated as attendees, demanding justice for 22-year-old Umer Khalid, breached the prison's outer grounds. While authorities condemned the trespass and arrested the group for "aggravated trespass," human rights organizations and protest witnesses are accusing the Metropolitan Police of a disproportionate and brutal response to a peaceful act of solidarity.
The protest was mobilized in urgent support of Umer Khalid, the last remaining participant in the "Prisoners for Palestine" hunger strike campaign, who has now escalated his protest to a thirst strike. Khalid, who has a pre-existing genetic muscular disorder, is being held on remand and denies charges related to a protest at RAF Brize Norton last June, where activists spray-painted military aircraft to protest their alleged connection to Israeli operations in Gaza. His deteriorating health after 16 days without food and now without water has raised alarms, with Amnesty International UK urging the government to intervene before it is too late.
Official accounts from the Metropolitan Police state the group refused to leave, blocked staff, and made threats, leading to the arrests. The Ministry of Justice called the protest's escalation "completely unacceptable," though assured the public that prison security was never breached and that Khalid is under close medical monitoring. However, these narratives are being forcefully challenged by the protest organizers and eyewitnesses. The "Prisoners for Palestine" group issued a statement alleging a "violent and wildly disproportionate response," claiming attendees, including pensioners, were "punched, kicked and bound face down on the floor by the police".
This clash occurs within a highly charged political context. The UK government has proscribed Palestine Action, the group Khalid is associated with, as a terrorist organization, a move heavily criticized by the United Nations as unjustified. Campaigners argue that the use of expansive anti-terrorism powers has led to the lengthy pre-trial detention of activists under oppressive conditions, a situation Amnesty International states has "contribut[ed] directly to this crisis".