THE police commander for Derry City and Strabane has actions by her officer at a Black Lives Matter rally in the city on Saturday were “proportionate”.
The public had been urged not to turn up at Guildhall Square for the protest over social distancing rules.
But up to 500 people defied the call to attend the rally organised by the North West Migrants Forum.
Police issued 60 and 70 fines at the Black Lives Matter demonstrations in Derry and Belfast.
The PSNI say about 40 of those fines were issued at the Derry protest.
Chief Supt Emma Bond has defended the actions of her officers at the Derry rally.
She told BBC Radio Foyle that officers across the PSNI “fully support the right to protest and the cause which people were protesting but these are exceptional times”.
She said “lawful and peaceful protest would be appropriate in any other circumstances other than this.”
“But because we are in the middle of a global pandemic, because the health protection regulations are in place and indicate that gatherings of more than six people are unlawful, that is why in these circumstances, police took the approach that they did.”
Blathnaid O’Donnell was one of those fined in Derry.
She attended the rally with her mother and 15-year-old brother.
“We were doing social distancing, we were standing 2m apart,” she told BBC Radio Foyle.
She said police “weren’t going around every single person.”
The PSNI say the organisers of the Derry and Belfast rallies will now be reported to the Public Prosecution Service for breaching the lockdown restrictions.
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