How far do sources 11 & 12 challenge the view presented in source 10 about the conduct of the police on Black Friday?

The three sources to be compared are all in relation to the events that occurred on “Black Friday”, particularly surrounding the conduct of the metropolitan police. Source 10, taken from “The Times” newspaper presents the view that the police were more victims of the women and raiders that they were trying to control, and that it took some effort to restrain the women that were protesting on that day. Whereas source 11, taken from a memorandum that was sent to the home office after ‘Black Friday” gives the view that the police were acting violently towards the women protesting and that the women in this situation were …show more content…

Similar to source 11, Source 12, from a statement by a 60 year old suffragette who had participated in the demonstration on “Black Friday” is of the opinion that it was the police who acted wrongly during the events, and not the women protesting. The suffragette talks about how she was “seized by several policemen” and how “one twisted (her) right arm behind (her) back with such brute force that (she) really thought he would break it”. She also mentions that “another policeman gave (her) a terrible blow in (her) back, which sent (her) whirling into the crowd”- clearly presenting the view that the police were acting violently and out of conduct towards the women and as a result disputing the viewpoint held in source 10. However, it must be taken into consideration the purpose of this statement, which was a testament before the Parliamentary Conciliation Committee for Women’s Suffrage, who we know from source 11 sympathized with suffragettes and were trying to gain support from them. Therefore, the women who gave this testament would have been trying to give as much evidence against the police as possible in order for the Committee to have a case against the police and order for an inquiry to be made. In