The murder of a young woman in
London has prompted a wave of
nationwide outrage and
protest over gender violence,
safety, and policing.
Sarah Everard,
33 years old disappeared in
early March while walking home in
South London neighborhood,
prompting an extensive
police search in the area.
Human remains were later found in
Woodland in Kent, south of London.
And Wayne Couzens, a 48-year-old
active duty officer with the London
metropolitan police has been
charged with her murder and
kidnapping.
His trial is set to begin in
October.
And just for more context,
Sarah was last spotted by
a doorbell camera while
walking home on a busy bus route.
You can see her there.
There was a car linked to Police
Officer Couzens that was spotted by
a another motorist dashcam as near
where she was last seen.
Police are still investigating
exactly what happened.
But, this has sparked a lot of
demonstration and a lot of outcry,
there was a vigil over the weekend.
And it didn't help that police
decided to also respond.
A little bit like police over in
the United States
respond to that protest.
Take a look.
>> On Saturday night, the police
tried to break up the crowd.
[NOISE] >> The vigil was against
lockdown rules, but
they're heavy handed tactics.
These images have horrified
the nation and helped fuel more
protests last night.
>> Great, so just when you thought
it couldn't get worse, one more,
one more thing to add to that pile,
which feels a little bit like
a cruel joke.
Because right now,
officials are discussing
in response to this murder and
how to make the street's safer.
That they're going to roll out
a program called Project Vigilant
which involves plainclothes and
uniformed officers patrolling bars
and nightlife areas.
Particularly around closing time
with the goal of, quote, deterring
predatory and suspicious offenders
in the night time economy.
Other steps unveiled include
doubling safer streets fund which
provides neighborhood measures such
as better lighting and CCTV.
Well, I'm not sure how better
lighting could have saved
Sarah Everard's life.
But I damn sure know that police in
bars will not help considering
a police as a prime suspect for
her murder.
>> Guys, your thoughts.
>> Yeah, I don't know if conscious
like the irony gene or something.
Same thing all across the world.
You're protesting police brutality,
why don't we give you some more
police brutality and
see how you like it?
Well, that's why
we're doing a protest in the first
place because we didn't like it.
So, it is at a minimum a very
ironic response.
But I do like to the British were
shocked by it, by you notice
a newscaster say that in America
we'd be like it's Tuesday.
Not remotely shocked.
So in fact, if we don't remember
the comps, for like a hot second,
knelt with the protesters during
the Black Lives Matter protests?
That we were shocked by were like,
whoa, why aren't they beating
us up, that really weird.
[LAUGH] >> Why would the cops show
empathy, to the citizens?
[LAUGH] >> Super weird.
But even more depressing is as
Francesca pointed out, so a cop
murder someone and your answer is
to send more cops in to the place
that you think it happened?
Well, again, at a minimum ironic.
>> Yeah, it's kind of funny that
the answer to unchecked state power
is always more state power, right?
It's never like well maybe
some accountability might help.
Maybe we should put some checks on
the power that we instill
within these organizations.
And by the way, it's that unchecked
power that breeds these kinds of
people who come out and just feel
like they can do whatever they want
whenever they want because that's
generally how it goes, right?
So, it's just crazy that you see
not just in the United States but
over in Europe.
Their answer, the power structures
answer is to now we just got to get
more cops on it because that's
always just worked out great.
Although when its citizens it's
like no, no let's get as punitive
as possible, let's up
the punishment ante on citizens but
that's never seems to be
the answer for
authority which I find to be It's
quite interesting to say the least.
>> Once I never thought about it
that way.
Could you imagine if the answer to
police brutality
was brutality against the police
instead of against the citizens.
[LAUGH] >> I mean like people was
losing, mere fact to me saying it.
They're like, right?
[LAUGH] >> Yeah, Fox News is
clipping that up right now.
They're like.
>> Yeah, my question is,
then why is it okay against us?
Yeah. >> Right,
the craziest thing is, look,
anyone who's been any woman,
any person who's been in a club,
been in a bar understands like what
happens people are trying to
pick one another up.
People are trying to dance or
trying to find, they're trying to
get their drink or whatever.
Now, imagine that and
add plainclothes police officers in
charged with basically being
the custodians of who's being
a creep and who's not.
My God, that sounds frightening,
like as a woman,
that sounds terrifying.
It's like a guy who's like, hey,
was that guy bothering you?
Let me just put my hand on your
butt. Like that's the level of
like, I'm not going to run into
the arms of a police officer if
someone assaulting me or costing or
making me feel uncomfortable.
Chances are, I guarantee you that
this pilot program is going to lead
to police officers being the ones
who are going to be assaulting and
violating and
getting in women's spaces.
But I do think it's interesting to
like it no point do British
officials are they thinking like,
man, we need a review of our cops.
Like after January 6,
every American, I mean most
Americans are like, okay, well,
looks like we need an actual review
of our cops instead of talking
about it all the time.
But in the UK it's like it never
necessarily crossed their mind that
like the issue, yes, it's safety
but it's also actually having
a full review of the people who
are policing your streets, right?
What are you doing here?
The how is adding more cameras and
lights are going to solve
any of this.
How is adding more cops going to
solve any of this?
So in some ways, I feel very good
that we're ahead of them in
terms of rethinking policing, but
behind in that their police
officers aren't really armed.
So, >> Yeah.
>> Yeah, real quick, Francesca.
Rhetorically, you're right about
that, right?
But, of course, when asked about
whether we should defund the
police, Biden said, no, we should
give more money to the police.
So our actual answer even from
Democrats is not that much better.
And so, look,
you have to do policing, but
the question is how?
And we know through our experience
here, you put cops in a place and
they start arresting people.
That's how we got to school to
prison pipeline.
So this is going to be
the nightclub to prison pipeline.
[LAUGH] >> I guaranteed you, you
put cops there, they're going to
start arresting people and at least
half of them are going to be women.
And, it ain't got to be because
somebody was attacking them,
it's going to be because,
you did this drug or
you did that or you did that wrong.
>> Sure, [CROSSTALK] you
did want to dance with me.
>> We get the Patriot Act,
we get mandatory minimum, so
we get the crime bill.
The cops get ratio
sensitivity training