hi @metpoliceuk, walking through finsbury park alone just now, taking exercise, i witnessed a woman being confronted by two police officers looking distressed. a concerned citizen, i stopped briefly - over 2 meters away - to see what was happening. 1/

seeing this woman felt she was being unfairly treated, i started to record on my phone. i’m a journalist, and having witnessed my share of incidents that later lead to isssues, decided i could safely briefly stand from a distance to record while explaining to officers my job 2/

initially the two officers understood, and while i wouldn’t say they were pleased, could see why i was doing it. one asked me to give my opinion on the situation. after less than 60seconds(of what i witnessed) this woman was escorted forcefully 20meters to 2TSG vans + cars 3/

i followed behind - from a large distance - still filming. i was quickly surrounded - much closer than 2 meters, by 5 male officers. they stopped me being able to keep a safe distance. i explained calmly that i’m a journalist and was documenting an incident while walking 4/

sergeant gary brown (3058U) - still aggressively - told me i was “not authorised to go around videoing” before shouting “go home” loudly over me, in my face, multiple times. again, right up close. i had asked him and his colleagues to keep their distance from me. 5/

he then threatened to fine me. given he and others refused to keep their distance i stepped back even further and headed away. i paused to turn back, still filming. three officers ran after me (closer than 2m, again)- another on tannoy yelling - and threatened to fine me again 6/

this is deeply concerning and needs urgent action. i was following governemnt guidelines in my activity. and as a concerned citizen, and a journalist, i was *safely* documenting an incident where a member of the public felt she was being unfairly treated by police officers 7/

we are in a public health emergency, not a police state. surely officers must not be able to act without scrutiny, and journalists must not be aggressively stopped from documenting what they see. this should go without saying. i have a video, names, badge numbers & vehicle reg 8/

i have been very careful to keep my distance from anyone - as per government instructions. today your officers have put me at risk. and at the same time, clearly believe they should no longer be subject to scrutiny of public or press. i will be lodging a complaint tomorrow.