Pro-Palestine activists allegedly struggled with British police while one struck an officer with a sledgehammer, according to bodycam footage shown Nov. 24 to jurors.
Six activists for Palestine Action, a pro-Palestine organization, are currently on trial for their alleged participation in an August 2024 break-in at a factory owned by Israel’s largest weapons producer, Elbit Systems, in the United Kingdom, according to Sky News. Prosecutors alleged the six used a prison van in a “meticulously organized” strike in the morning.
They face charges of aggravated burglary, criminal damage and violent disorder, all of which they have denied, the outlet reported. The accused are Charlotte Head, 29, Samuel Corner, 23, Leona Kamio, 30, Fatema Rajwani, 21, Zoe Rogers, 22 and Jordan Devlin, 31. Corner has denied the accusation of striking officer Kate Evans with a sledgehammer.
The bodycam footage shared by the New York Post shows police responding to the alleged break-in. The video comes from the perspective of a police officer as he tasers one of the orange jumpsuit-wearing activists allegedly damaging equipment and spray-painting walls before holding her down in an attempt to handcuff her.
The activist appears to struggle with the officer, seemingly refusing orders and trying to stand up while shouting, “You don’t have to do that.”
A female officer, who has handcuffed another alleged activist, made her way on all fours to the first officer’s suspect in an attempt to help him get control of the situation, according to the footage. Amid the chaos, another orange jumpsuit-wearing activist allegedly strikes the female officer with a sledgehammer while she is bent over.
The first officer then tasers the alleged attacker as the female officer struggles for possession of the implement and a third officer throws the suspect to the floor, according to the footage.
The first officer finishes apprehending the first suspect and takes control of the female officer’s as she appears to be struggling on the floor.
“What the fuck, you idiot, why would you do that?” the first suspect can be heard saying.
“Your mate just hit us with a hammer, I think you’re the idiot,” the first officer alleges before asking the female officer if she is all right.
“I think so,” she responds, still lying on her back as other officers can be heard struggling with their suspects in the background.
Another point of view from the same clip shows the alleged attacker wielding the sledgehammer over his head before charging forward and landing a blow on the female officer.
The female officer received a fracture to the spine as a result of the alleged attack, Sky News reported.
“I can remember looking up, and PC [Peter] Adams for some reason had a shocked face on him, and then I had a pain in my back,” the female officer later said while providing evidence. “It was just a massive shock vibrating through my whole back, a thud on my back through my whole body extended down to my legs.”
The officer said the alleged attacker accused the cops of being “complicit in genocide” after the incident. “I said something like ‘you have just hit me with a sledgehammer’, and he didn’t recognize that at all, he just started telling me I’m complicit in genocide again,” the officer said, noting that she suffered “intense pain.”
Palestine Action was proscribed, or banned, under the U.K.’s terrorism laws after activists were accused of vandalizing aircraft at a Royal Air Force base, according to Sky News.
Avon and Somerset Police have not responded to the Daily Caller’s request for comment.
