Quote · Empire: World History
369. The First British Indians: The Suffragette Princess (Ep 1)
Where this was said
Sophia's Body Check, V700, and Churchill's Fury
At 47:18 · chapter starts 44:50
Despite being barely five feet tall, Sophia does not watch passively. She sees one police officer repeatedly smashing a woman against the concrete — picking her up and dashing her down again each time she staggers to her feet. Judging that the third blow will kill her, Sophia rushes in and body-checks the officer away. Anand compares the shock value to seeing Zendaya suddenly appear in a riot. Rather than retreating, Sophia demands the officer's badge number, following him through the crowd as she is 'tossed around like a rag doll', repeating the number V700 until she has it memorised. After six hours the women are arrested — Sophia among them, as Anand has seen the arrest record — though none are charged, since Churchill cannot allow them to make their speeches in open court. Sophia's subsequent complaints escalate relentlessly: past the Metropolitan Police Commissioner, past the Home Secretary's office, until Churchill himself scrawls on a note, 'Send no more reply to her. W.S.C.' Anand describes seeing the document, pen indentations of anger visible in the paper.
Sophia repeated police officer V700's number relentlessly after he assaulted a fellow suffragette, eventually escalating her complaint to Winston Churchill himself.
Winston Churchill personally scrawled 'Send no more reply to her. W.S.C.' on a note regarding Sophia's complaints about police violence on Black Friday.
Sophia immediately joined the Women's Tax Resistance League, founded in 1909, refusing to pay taxes on her servants, dog licences, and carriage licences.
