Discover and read the best of Twitter Threads about #Colston4
Most recents (11)
#THREAD
On 16thth April, news broke that a park named after William Gladstone could be rebranded “Diane Abbott Park” by a @UKLabour council, “as part of a slavery review.”
This thread is about truth, the culture war, the UK's broken news media, & the amplification of hate.
On 16thth April, news broke that a park named after William Gladstone could be rebranded “Diane Abbott Park” by a @UKLabour council, “as part of a slavery review.”
This thread is about truth, the culture war, the UK's broken news media, & the amplification of hate.
On 16th April, Boris Johnson's former employer, the non-dom billionaire-owned Telegraph, along with the non-dom billionaire-owned Daily Mail, broke the story.
Both claimed Gladstone Park could be renamed 'Diane Abbott Park' by a Labour Council "as part of their slavery review".
Both claimed Gladstone Park could be renamed 'Diane Abbott Park' by a Labour Council "as part of their slavery review".
Both newspapers describe school pupils "as young as 5" "were briefed on the killing of George Floyd & 'systematic racism.'"
Brent Council's Tory representatives predictably "slammed the attempts to rewrite history", & described it "as an attempt at 'indoctrination'."
Brent Council's Tory representatives predictably "slammed the attempts to rewrite history", & described it "as an attempt at 'indoctrination'."
Exactly right from Rhian Graham of the #Colston4. This quotation can’t be shared enough. theguardian.com/world/2022/jan…
This is how Merriam-Webster-Webster defines ‘woke.’ So when the right uses it as an insult, they are revelling in and actively promoting a contrary definition, as in
‘Unaware of and actively disinterested in important facts and issues (especially issues of racial and social justice).
Who would be proud of that? Who would think that is a moral code worth living by?
Who would be proud of that? Who would think that is a moral code worth living by?
This YouGov poll on the #Colston4 trial verdict illustrates both the virtues of #deliberative processes like juries and also one of their big problems. 🧵
If you take a random (and presumably representative) sample of the population and ...
If you take a random (and presumably representative) sample of the population and ...
... give them the evidence, and the time to debate, deliberate and consider that evidence, you’ll (in general) get a much better informed, higher quality decision than the kneejerk (and media-driven) reactions that you get from polls like this one by YouGov. And ...
..that’s good for justice. There’s lots of optimism in some progressive circles about the promise of related deliberative processes for tackling controversial, potentially divisive issues like the sorts of changes we should make to our lifestyles to respond to the climate crisis.
1/In 1670 two Quakers charged with unlawful assembly were found not guilty at the Old Bailey by a jury. The judge then imprisoned the jury without food, water, heat, or light, saying "I will have a positive verdict or you'll starve for it"
2/ They refused to give way, and the judge fined them and returned them to prison, until released when the Lord Chief Justice interceded, saying that a judge "may try to open the eyes of jurors, but not to lead them by the nose".
3/ The Quaker defendants remained in prison, despite the verdict of not guilty of the original charges.
Edward Bushel, a member of the jury, took out a writ to free them. The ensuing trial is referred to as Bushel's Case.
Edward Bushel, a member of the jury, took out a writ to free them. The ensuing trial is referred to as Bushel's Case.
In court, the judge expressed dismay at Mercy Muroki’s opinion piece: “I am struggling to see how, as in GB News’ charter, that this article is ‘respectful’ or ‘sets an example by treating others in a way that they would wish to be treated’.”
#Colston4
theguardian.com/media/2022/jan…
#Colston4
theguardian.com/media/2022/jan…
GB "News" was accused of prejudicing the trial of the #Colston4 after publishing opinion pieces criticising defendants midway through court proceedings. A Mercy Muroki piece was titled “I’m in favour of white people calling out racism… but the Colston saga reeks of white guilt”.
Muroki commented on the ongoing trial, suggesting Bristol council & local police might have colluded with a “bunch of anarchic protesters”: “I don’t need a bunch of white hippies crippled by white guilt to throw a largely irrelevant statue in a river to prove they’re not racist.”
Oh god please make it stop.
Seems a good time to repost this. #NationalAnthem #Colston4
Oh well at least Andrew Rosindell got the topic trending, just not in the way he hoped. #idiocracy
One thing about the #Colston4 acquittal the government should see as a warning: criminalising protest you don’t approve of (as is happening through the #PolicingBill) will have the opposite effect you want: politicisation of the courts and juries and more unlikely acquittals
The #Colston4 case was criminal damage so the acquittal was unusual. If the govt criminalises *peaceful* protest as planned, there will be many more arguments of this type, based on the protest being justified and the prosecution unjustified. And the public will sympathise.
In other words, be careful if you wish for peaceful protest to become a criminal issue because the public may not oblige your illiberal intentions.
#Colston4 there’s been much criticism of the verdict in this case. Frankly the verdict was unsurprising, even if against the weight of the evidence. Why? Because the harrowing impact of the expert evidence given by the historian David Olusoga provided cogent ammo to the defence
In this respect, a full measure of respect should be accorded to HHJ Peter Blair QC, The Recorder of Bristol. I don’t know him but he must be a wise & humane tribunal - perfect for the #Colston4
The Recorder of Bristol recognised that this wasn’t an ordinary criminal damage trial. The City was torn in two, & so the trial was about far more than the fate of the #Colston4. It would have symbolic importance - even catharsis.
It would have been very surprising had they been convicted, as I wrote at the time.
barristerblogger.com/2020/06/08/the…
barristerblogger.com/2020/06/08/the…
This would appear to be the legal justification for the acquittal.
Good. The gammonati will totally lose it.
The people who are furious that the #Colston4 have been found not guilty are the same people who were delighted that Kyle Rittenhouse was found not guilty, which tells you all you need to know really. #BlackLivesMatter
Current debate in Bristol is understandably focused on the trial of the #colston4, but more generally, its vital to understand the underpinning current of political intransigence itself, that made direct action inevitable …
Bristol's failure to reconcile the barbarism of its past sits in stark contrast to Liverpool, a city with a similarly stained history, but where the International Slavery Museum proudly stands & no shadow body with direct connections to the Atlantic slave trade still operates...
As a “unified city” Liverpool’s 2008 European Capital of Culture award (for which Bristol also competed) transformed that city; drawing 7m visitors/generating £753m for the economy. The cost to Bristol’s public realm of the failure to reconcile our history is very real.
