workingclasshistory:

On this day, 15 May 1831, in London, a jury found the stabbing to death of a police officer “justifiable homicide”, despite the coroner locking the jury in a room to get them to change their mind. The recently formed Metropolitan Police had violently attacked a demonstration of the National Union of the Working Classes, and in defending themselves the workers stabbed three policemen, killing one.
Police were widely hated by Londoners who largely saw them for what they were: a violent gang set up to protect the property of the rich and keep the working class in abject poverty.
Officers were routinely mocked in the street, and given nicknames like ‘Raw Lobsters’, ‘Blue Devils’ and ‘Peel’s Bloody Gang’. And they were frequently attacked, with some early recruits being stabbed, blinded, and one was even held down while someone ran him over.
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