Facts

• According to their lawyers, the London police on Thursday apologized and paid "substantial damages" to the two women arrested at a vigil in honor of Sarah Everard. Everard was raped and murdered by a serving officer.
• The Metropolitan Police (Met) detained Patsy Stevenson and Dania Al-Obeid, who attended the vigil on Clapham Common in March 2021 despite it being canceled due to threats of £10k (about $12.4K) in fines for violating pandemic restrictions.
• In the wake of the Met's actions, which an independent watchdog ruled were appropriate, images of Stevenson being restrained and handcuffed by police circulated globally — prompting widespread condemnation of aggressive policing.
• When asked about the incident, which also involved clashes between police and attendees, Ms. Al-Obeid said she was trapped because she "was up against a railing, behind me were 20-odd police officers, and in front of me were hundreds of people with their phones."
• Multiple lawsuits were then filed by both protesters and the organizers of the event. The prosecution of six protesters accused by the Met of breaking lockdown rules was dropped by the Crown Prosecution Service. Two High Court judges also ruled in favor of the organizers.
• In letters to the women, Met Commander Karen Findlay said she "fully acknowledge[s] that your motivations in attending the vigil were to express your grief and anger regarding the circumstances of the tragic murder," adding that the COVID pandemic "presented an extremely difficult challenge" for police that day.