When England’s prosecution service announced last month that a police officer would be charged with murder after fatally shooting an unarmed Black man in London, the news was met with relief by the dead man’s family.
But among the armed police who work for London’s Metropolitan Police Service, known colloquially as the Met, there was consternation. Officers worried that the murder charge signaled a changed attitude toward the use of guns in the course of their duties, the Met police later wrote in a statement.
Within days, hundreds of officers had handed in their weapon permits — known as “blue cards” — and were refusing to carry their guns in protest. The Met was temporarily forced to request support from the army.
Full story: An Officer Is Charged With Murder. Colleagues Briefly Drop Their Guns.