On this day, 9 March 1914, women battled police in Glasgow during Emmeline Pankhurst’s speaking tour of Scotland. The famous suffragette had been temporarily released from prison to nullify her hunger strike, but now the police sought to rearrest her so she would serve the remainder of her sentence. What they didn’t expect was an organised body guard. Pankhurst’s protectors had barbed wire concealed in flower bouquets and clubs concealed in dresses. Some had undertaken martial arts training, and they carried at least one gun. The Glasgow Herald reported that “Unparalleled scenes of disorder took place. The police stormed the platform and for several minutes a fierce struggle took place between them and Mrs pankhurst’s supporters, several persons being injured. Flower pots and chairs were thrown at the constables, who were obliged to draw their batons. In the course of the mêlée the excitement was intensified by a woman firing several blank rounds from a revolver.”
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Did we hurt the police thugs feelings?