It all started with being told by a different pair of officers on patrol earlier in day that they don’t have a problem with us skating as long as they can’t see us and we aren’t in public view or way. So we moved to a subway on the very outskirts of Weymouth town, where only a handful of people passed in the time we were there. Eventually the police turned up, firstly it was just the officer seen in the video and then another came shortly after. Right off the bat the main officer in the video started throwing his weight around and being unnecessarily aggressive. At the height of this moment I started filming because I felt uncomfortable and somewhat attacked. As a group of about 6-7 we knew we were in the wrong, in terms of breaching covid rules. We respectfully and politely told the officers what we had been told earlier in the day and the confusion around what was allowed and all agreed we would quietly move on. My friend (seen in the video) tried explaining this to the officer which was when the contents of the video occurred. After the offending officer has realised we were filming and not retaliating in anyway he completely changed his tune and left the most of the talking to the other officer (who was far more professional in his approach).
It was just shocking for all of us as skateboarding (rule breaking or not) is one of the only outlets for us at this time and is one of the only things a lot of us have to cope with struggles such as mental health. Having a comment made about suicide is not only disgusting but far too close to home for a lot of us.
For obvious reason I have decided to remain anonymous.
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