London’s Metropolitan Police Harass; Attempt to Take Advantage of Autistic Cameraman

The following post and accompanying video were shared with the CopBlock Network by Marcus Potter, who has submitted numerous other videos to the CopBlock Network, as well. It was shared via the CopBlock.org Submissions Page.

Date of Incident: July 27, 2016
Officer Involved: Police Constable 5205CO
Department Involved: Metropolitan Police Service
Department Twitter Account: @MPSWestminster
Department Facebook Page: Met Police UK
Department Telephone No.: +44300 123 1212

On the 27th of July 2016, I was crossing a road and waited halfway for a vehicle to pass. Having decided to cross back, I was approached by a police officer, namely PC 5205CO from London’s Metropolitan Police Service who pretended to be concerned for my welfare in an attempt to obtain my name. I refused to provide it, but rather foolishly answered the rest of her questions.

I later made a subject access request to another police force and found that the Metropolitan Police Service had provided details of this encounter to them and read an intelligence report that was generated as a result. This states that officers were later briefed about me and that they wanted to know who I was for intelligence purposes, so that they could link that person (who turned out to be me) with a Marcus Potter (me) who was “known” to be “mentally ill,” have a “hatred for the police and all they stand for,” and pose a threat to police officers and the government.

This I can assure is all bullshit and whilst I do have a criminal record for two petty offenses it in no way demonstrates that. The reasons they have cited for these beliefs have been completely unrelated to the crimes that I was convicted of namely disorderly conduct and sending a malicious communication. It is also interesting to know that I was attacked from behind by PC Lyons 1762CW (warrant number 231593) later that day and the reasons cited to justify the attack was that I was suspected of being a terrorist on the grounds that I was filming numerous police officers.

I would like to add that as the police are well aware (there is a flag on their systems that I have seen), I suffer from Autism and as a result will be more gullible then the average person. Rather than being upfront as to the reason for asking my name, 5205CO gave me an entirely fictional reason for requesting my name. Had I given it, I would no doubt have also been asked for my home address and date of birth.

– Marcus D Potter

I have gone into more detail on the unlawful attack by PC Lyons here.