Pro-Palestine protestor arrested after allegedly lying down in path of chartist march

Elen Johnston
Sun 3 November 2024 

The protestor restrained by police (Image: Newsquest) (Image: Newsquest)

A MAN was arrested by police after allegedly lying down in the path of the Newport Rising Festival chartist march, says witnesses.

The annual Newport Rising Festival took place yesterday evening (November 2) in memory of the chartist uprising.

The event saw thousands march down Stow Hill with lit torches in memory of the last large-scale armed uprising in Britain in 1839.

A protest by Newport Palestine Solidarity Campaign was held on the right-hand side of Stow Hill as the chartist march walked past.

A demonstrator with a megaphone chanted ‘we charge you with genocide’ and others held up a banner and signs.

The large banner read ‘No Gwent in Genocide. Gwent councils stop investing in war crimes’.

Two police officers had one man restrained to the ground on the right-hand side as the chartist march walked past.

The protestor restrained on the ground chanted ‘free free Palestine’.

Before the man was arrested and taken away, six police officers could be seen stood around him.

A spokesperson for Gwent Police said: "A 57-year-old man from Newport was arrested on suspicion of the wilful obstruction of a highway. He was later released under investigation."

The pro-Palestine protestor lay down on the road on Stow Hill where the festival’s march was about to walk through, said two witnesses.

A witness said: “He (the man restrained) lied down on the road and when he refused to move the police took him to the side of the road.”