I Watched an 81-year-old Lady Get Arrested on Saturday

Anna, 81, protests silently. A few minutes later, she is arrested. London, UK. Oct 2025. © Matt Mahmood-Ogston

I watched an 81-year-old lady get arrested on Saturday. And I can't stop thinking about what that means for the rest of us.

Trafalgar Square, London.

A peaceful protest.

No violence.

Many of the protesters were elderly people, sitting silently in chairs and sipping tea.

A female choir was singing.

Wellbeing volunteers were handing out food and water.

Then the arrests began.

Unprovoked.

They started slow. 

And then picked up pace.

Police officers made their way through the crowd towards the edges of the protest.

They picked one person out at a time.

Each protester was questioned.

Asked if they had underlying health conditions. 

If they had  medication with them.

Then, one by one, they were taken away.

Some protesters couldn't walk unassisted.

Some had walking sticks.

Some were blind.

Some were accompanied by their carer.

Carried  away as if they were violent criminals.

One elderly man appeared to have been dropped on the floor as he was being carried. The crowd erupted: "Shame, shame, shame" and "You have a choice."

Anna, an 81-year-old well-dressed woman, was one of those protesters. She was seated for hours. Silently. With a single placard bearing seven words.

She gave me permission to document her story.

Anna said she felt "it was her duty to be there".

To protect our right to lawful protest.

To bring attention to the atrocities that were taking place in Gaza. 

To make it clear that an act of terrorism, like the horrific stabbings that took place last week in Manchester,  and a peaceful protest, are not the same thing.

To show that exercising our right to protest is not terrorism.

Anna said she had 'less to lose than younger persons who might lose their jobs or careers by protesting'.

And so it was her duty to protest. 

To protect our lawful freedom to disagree with our government.

As a social impact photographer and charity CEO, one of the things that keeps me up at night is this.

If we lose the right to protest peacefully, we lose everything. If we can't document what's happening without fear, truth dies in silence. If we can't speak openly about injustice, we become complicit through our silence.

Social impact storytelling isn't just about sharing nice stories. It's about bearing witness. It's about creating a record when power wants us to look away.

For charities, this is critically important.

For purpose-driven brands, this is where you prove your brand values are not just hot air.

Those elders understood something most of us forget.

Freedom isn't given.

It's protected by people willing to sit in the cold and face arrest.

I documented their story because someone needs to.

Because when 81-year-olds are being arrested for sitting peacefully, we're not talking about public safety anymore.

We're talking about silencing dissent.

And if we can't see that, if we can't talk about that, if we can't share that, then we've already lost what matters most.

The freedom to tell the truth.