Anger and grief as crowds rally to support Child Q

Let black girls be girls. That was the message that hundreds of people wanted to express when they gathered for a rally in north London on Sunday.

Crowds marched in support of Child Q - a black 15-year-old girl who was strip-searched at school after being wrongly suspected of carrying drugs.

The incident happened in 2020 and the girl's family is suing her school and the force. The family said the girl had become "a shell of her former bubbly self".

But it has reignited concerns over the treatment of black people by the Metropolitan Police. The Met has apologised for what happened but people at the rally say they want assurances that what happened to Child Q won't be repeated.

Holding banners and chanting, people demanded justice. One placard read "protect our black children".

But aside from the anger and outrage, the sense of grief and trauma was palpable. Many shed tears in the midst of chanting for change.

Omega Douglas said she felt sick when she heard what happened to Child Q. She came along to the rally with her mother and daughter. Like many, she believes the Met has failed black people several times.

"I'm old enough to have lived through the Brixton riots," she said, citing the "multiple abuses of power by the police in this country". She added: "I am appalled."

Omega came along to the rally with her mother and daughter

Jacqui Courtenay set up the rally after hearing about the case of Child Q a few days ago.

She said she had a strong urge to act because "a child out there has been caused such harm, a black child, and that could have been my kids... that could be [my] nieces and nephews".

Jacqui and several others say they felt particularly traumatised after hearing how the 15-year-old was strip searched by two female police officers, and made to take off her sanitary towel. The teenager was on her period at the time.

The ordeal took place at Child Q's school, with no appropriate adult present.

It's the first time that Jacqui, a city worker, has set up an event of this kind. She reached out to Patrick Vernon, a Windrush campaigner who helped organise the rally with the support of other human rights activists like Marai Larasi.

Jacqui said she was overwhelmed by the response of the hundreds of people who came to the rally in solidarity with Child Q.

"I feel like it's an out of body experience... It's been so long since we've seen such an outpouring of love for a black person, let alone a black girl."

Jacqui Courtenay was one of the organisers of Sunday's event

Many people told the BBC of their anger at the "adultification bias" which the safeguarding review said was highly likely to have been a factor in the case. Adultification is a form of racial prejudice that causes adults to perceive black children as being older than they are.

"They are seen as troublemakers" said Izzy, a youth worker at the rally. "They're seen as aggressive or loud, a threat. I get them telling me about that quite a lot."

Speaking through her tears, Holly Adamoh said that the school involved should have looked after Child Q.

"You should not have to feel racially profiled within a school, and you shouldn't have to ever feel threatened," she said. "You should be listened to and looked after." Frustrated, Holly said she believed the police showed a lack of empathy towards Child Q.

Holly and Izzy were among the hundreds of people at the rally

Former Met Police superintendent Leroy Logan was also at the rally. He retired in 2013 but spent some of his career in Hackney, where the incident took place.

He told the BBC that the false accusation made about Child Q smelling of cannabis did not give the police the authority to carry out the strip search.

The Met Police has apologised, with Scotland Yard saying its officers' actions were "regrettable" and "it should never have happened". Last month, a senior Met officer told the BBC that racism remains a problem in the force - but he denied the Met was a racist organisation.

Logan added that many people are disgusted by the case and "know their child could be next".

"This is not a time just to say we regret," he said. "There has to be action."