Hundreds turned up in Birmingham’s city centre today for the Mayday protest. Little trouble occurred however as most of them were dressed smartly in blue with shiny black boots laced to the top.
Police outnumbered the handful of peaceful campaigners, quashing any hope they had of making their point regarding anti-capitalism heard.
Within minutes of one protester introducing himself over his megaphone, a marked Police vehicle pulled up with a louder device, announcing that “I, the Chief Officer of Police, reasonably believe that the Birmingham Mayday anti-capitalist demonstration will result in serious public disorder, serious damage to property or serious disruption to the life of the community.”
He went on to demand that the demonstration must follow his specified route that would lead the protest down a subway and out of public viewing.
The mass of attending officers were in turn surprised by the reaction of the protesters, in which they refused to be moved to where they couldn’t be heard.
After tepid argument, police began to use force to move the small pack down towards Colmore Circus, when several arrests were made.
One man, a 20 year old student, was thought to be arrested for the scripture that was emblazoned on his jeans.
Police continued their domination of proceedings and promptly surrounded the underpass.
One female protester said, “It’s ridiculous, no-body came here to cause any kind of criminal offence yet we’ve been denied the right for freedom of speech.
What we’ve seen today is just how scared people are of hearing a different view. They’re all scared.”
A total of six arrests were made.