Ben Buckland, an Army Veteran, has been fined for assaulting a police officer during a row about social distancing at the Cenotaph on Remembrance Sunday.
On Remembrance Sunday 2020, 48-year-old Ben Buckland attended the Cenotaph in Whitehall. He was dressed in traditional Highland dress, including a kilt and Glengarry, and had his bagpipes with him.
However, upon arriving, Buckland discovered that barriers had been erected to enforce the government’s social distancing measures during a private ceremony at the Cenotaph.
According to prosecutors, police later allowed members of the public to pay their respects if they approached in pairs.
However, Buckland and his large group suddenly began marching down Whitehall, and Buckland began to march up and down the police line playing the bagpipes.
Prosecutor Matthew Hodgetts said Buckland “turned suddenly” to “dart between a gap” between two police officers and “barge” through the cordon.
PC Nathan Rolf, the officer who pushed Buckland back, claimed that he did so because he believed Buckland was attempting to force his way through a gap between the officers to access the memorial, an allegation that Buckland vehemently denied.
The officer was filmed as he took necessary measures to subdue Buckland, who was actively attempting to force his way through the police cordon. Buckland lost his footing and fell to the ground. A partial clip of the incident was later uploaded to social media and quickly went viral.
In the video, Buckland is heard saying, “We fought for that flag. We want that barrier removed so we can lay our wreaths as we have done for years.”
He also expressed doubts about the existence of the pandemic by asking, “If people didn’t tell you there was a pandemic, would you know it existed? I ask all of you, how many people do you know who have died from it?”
He called Chief Medical Officer for England, Chris Whitty, “witless” and “in the pocket of Bill Gates.”
Buckland was later found guilty of assaulting PC Michael Jones, who had asked if he was “alright” after the fall. Body-worn footage showed Buckland saying, “Am I alright? No thanks to you” before grabbing PC Jones by the elbows, pulling him towards him, and shoving him backwards.
During the court proceedings, Buckland revealed that he has both post-traumatic stress disorder and a parasitic worm infection in his brain, which he claimed could result in him experiencing confusion.
Buckland explained to the court that he acquired cerebral schistosomiasis seven years ago from a river near Port Elizabeth, South Africa.
As a result of this parasitic worm infection in his brain, combined with his post-traumatic stress disorder, he sometimes experiences confusion.
He further added that he often needs to act normal to mask the symptoms.
During the trial, the court was informed that Buckland had shared a video on social media after the incident that was filmed at the Cenotaph.
In the video, he says, “If you want to make things happen, sometimes you have to provoke a reaction to get what you want. It only takes a small push to get closer to them and make them scared… that’s how we succeeded in getting here because they were never going to let us through otherwise.”
In the end, Buckland was fined £100 and ordered to pay costs of £200.
It is extremely important that servicemen are allowed to pay their respects to the fallen, although I do not condone the servicemans actions I do understand them. I think this could have been handled better by both sides.