There are a lot of awful things going on in the video of Chris Whitty being accosted by a group of men in a London park on Sunday (27 June), but the element that makes it the hardest to watch is, arguably, his vulnerability. Whitty doesn’t defend himself, likely for a number of reasons – not least of which the backlash he could provoke if he was seen shoving a member of the public. You can see the fear in his eyes, the paralysis of his body. He looks trapped. He’s helpless.
The video of Whitty came after a string of related incidents where prominent figures, largely hated by the right, were attacked while out in public. BBC journalist Nick Watt experienced similar harassment while covering an anti-lockdown protest. Labour Party candidate Kim Leadbeater was shouted at on the street while out campaigning in Batley and Spen. Whitty himself was also the target of another anti-lockdown protest over the weekend where, according to Marianna Spring, a BBC journalist covering disinformation, protestors “chanted ‘treason’ by his home” and said “they wanted him hanged”.
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