London uni blocked entry of students deemed ‘threat’ to Queen’s visit

King’s College London has come under fire after reportedly blocking some students from entering the university during a visit by the Queen on Tuesday.

Several students say they had their access denied when the Queen, accompanied by The Duchess of Cambridge, opened Bush House at King’s College London:

Today the Queen was visiting my uni and the uni blocked my ID because I’m seen as a threat 😂😭 honestly I’m dying 😂😂

— threat to the Queen (@anarchowinemum) March 19, 2019

So the Queen is at KCL today and they have cancelled the ID cards of students that the uni deem to be a threat. As in they can’t enter any part of campus until 2pm. WILD

— DISSERTATION ✍🏾 (@Sharon_evi) March 19, 2019

Some students were due to take exams but say they had their entry blocked:

Had an exam today and being the studious guy I am showed up an hour early only to find my card was blocked and I couldn’t get in the building, is the queen visiting a good enough reason for potentially preventing a student sitting a COMPULSORY test???@KingsCollegeLon @kclsu

— Uyghur维吾尔 | Asif ⚒ (@AsifkWHU) March 19, 2019

Activists involved in the ‘Justice for Cleaners’ campaign also say they had their access denied:

ALL STUDENTS INVOLVED IN THE CLEANERS CAMPAIGN HAVE HAD THEIR CARDS BLOCKED @KingsCollegeLon https://t.co/xZtAUzIZnT

— KCL Justice4Cleaners (@KCLJ4C) March 19, 2019

The move led some to suggest the university has a ‘black list’ of students deemed a ‘threat’:

Oh wow. If this is true then what we have witnessed today is essentially a form of blacklist that the university has compiled about its own students. Makes me wonder what lists they have about their staff… https://t.co/7QXieiFSeq

— Jo Grady (@DrJoGrady) March 19, 2019

One NUS staffer suggested the move could even constitute ‘racial profiling’.

In a statement seen by the Times, a university spokesperson said:

“We had an event today which demanded the highest level of security and we had to minimise movement through buildings for security reasons. At times some of our buildings were not accessible.”

The paper reports that the university refused to answer questions about whether there had been discrimination between different groups of students over access to King’s.

Students will stage a protest on Wednesday on the Strand, against what they deem ‘securitisation’ at the university.

Student activists also released a statement, saying:

“On 19th March 2019, a minimum of ten politically active King’s College London students were blocked from entering the University. Vague justifications offered by security suggested that the Metropolitan Police had advised the University to ban all students that could be considered a security threat, on the basis of a visit by the Queen to open Bush House.

“The Police have also taken the names of these students for their own purposes. This ban included all campuses, libraries and cafes, and prevented students from attending exams, work shifts, classes and assessed presentations. When students demanded a response from security management, they claimed ignorance and confidentiality.

“It is no coincidence that this happened in Israeli Apartheid Week, where students have been actively opposing university complicity in violence. This is another step towards KCL’s complicity in violence and militerisation, as well as the oppression of freedoms, predominantly towards Muslim women of colour. “

The university’s Palestine solidarity campaign released a statement, saying:

“Despite KCL regularly referring to itself as an organisation of progressive values, in reality they would rather wall of the campus to all those who dare to challenge violence and injustice promoted by the university.”

The university did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Josiah Mortimer is Editor of Left Foot Forward. Follow him on Twitter.