AFTER arresting eight people in Truro yesterday (Tuesday, November 18), Devon and Cornwall Police did not return to apprehend 18 remaining protesters, who carried on their silent vigil – which has been deemed illegal by the government – outside the city’s cathedral well into the night.

Twenty-six people took part in the latest Defend Our Juries’ ‘Lift The Ban’ demonstration calling for the government to reverse its decision to have protest group Palestine Action proscribed as a terrorist organisation. It meant the protesters, the majority of whom were elderly and retired, risked arrest under the Terrorism Act 2000 by sitting peacefully holding handwritten signs saying “I oppose genocide. I support Palestine Action”.

Eight people were eventually arrested outside Truro Cathedral. Despite police officers telling the remaining protesters that it was their intention to return and arrest them, they didn’t.

The arrests marked what appeared to be a u-turn by Devon and Cornwall Police, who decided not to apprehend any of the protesters at a similar protest outside the cathedral in September. A spokesperson for the force told us that police action depends on the nature of the protest and events that unfold that day. There were arrests at a previous protest in support of Palestine Action at the cathedral in July. All of the protests have taken place in exactly the same way, with older people sitting quietly holding signs.

Every single police force where Lift The Ban actions took place yesterday in England and Wales chose to make arrests. However, Police Scotland did not arrest any of the 49 people holding the same signs in Edinburgh.

A spokesperson for Defend Our Juries Cornwall said: “At 1pm on Tuesday, November 26, people sat down and wrote out their signs in the forecourt of Truro Cathedral. The police were there from the outset, filming all those present but clearly without either the vehicle capacity or the numbers on site to arrest all 26 sitters. Shortly before 2pm they began issuing one-to-one warnings, before commencing arrests at about 2.15pm.

“Appearing to target those who had already been arrested under Section 13 of the Terrorism Act 2000 at previous Lift The Ban actions, arrests then proceeded slowly until, having arrested only eight out of 26 sitters, all three police vans as well as all police and police liaison personnel left the site, having first stated their intention to return and continue with the arrests once these eight people had been processed at Camborne and Newquay police stations, if sitters were still in place at that point.”

The remaining protesters stayed in front of Truro Cathedral as darkness fell, but the police did not return. However, a drone hovered overhead, where it had been surveying the action since the protest began several hours earlier.

Chris Bird, 72, a farmer from Truro who took part in the silent vigil, said: “In 1944 my father landed in France on Sword Beach on D-Day. He was fighting against fascism, the holocaust and genocide, and for people’s freedom. And now we see the same thing that the Nazis were doing happening again in Gaza. It’s just wrong and I was there today to oppose genocide and to support Palestine Action.”

When Devon and Cornwall Police issued a statement yesterday stating seven people had been arrested on suspicion of offences under Section 13 of the Terrorism Act 2000. An eighth was later arrested.

Speaking on Tuesday, Chief Superintendent Matthew Longman said: “These are challenging operations for officers as they strike a balance between upholding the law, whilst serving their local communities. Today we have made every effort to deliver a compassionate service, that is empathetic to individuals involved, but which does fulfil our obligations.

“I am extremely proud of the way officers conducted themselves in this highly emotive area of police work.”