Two young activists were arrested in Leeds today. A peaceful
demonstration was organised in the town centre to coincide with the
US elections and the planned attack on Falluja. The action was
organised by REVOLUTION, a socialist youth organisation and involved
someone dressed up as George Bush and our members calling on the
shoppers o Leeds city centre to throw wet sponges at Bush. Although
some passers by became annoyed at getting a bit wet when the sponges
missed, (nothing compared to what is going to happen to the
civilians in Falluja!) most people gathered round to watch and quite
a few joined in.

The protest was billed as part of Dubyas re-election campaign in the
UK (The 51st State of the U.S.!) and several Republican spin doctors
were on hand to let the voters know that if they wanted 4 more years
of war, genocide, racism and poverty then they had better be sure to
vote for Bush on November 2nd. Whilst we do not support the Kerry
campaign either we felt that it was a good way to demonstrate to the
public that Bush is responsible for so much death and misery in the
last 4 years.
The city centre ambassadors were good natured, they explained that
there had been some complaints from members of the public getting a
bit wet but they did n try and stop the action. However after an
hour and a half a more senior `warden' turned up and told us to
stop. He refused, saying we had been given permission to continue.
He called the police; one officer arrived after a few minutes, he
tried to confiscate our bucket of water and sponges, we replied with
some chanting and then he proceeded, without warning, to order the
arrest of two of our comrades. A massive crowd gathered as the
policeman wrestled one of them to the ground, the wardens grabbed
the other and held her in an arm lock, and then both were carried
off to a police station. They have both subsequently been charged
with section 4 of the public order act (disorder)

A peaceful demonstration that ends with two arrests because of the
actions of the police is a sad example of the kind of Britain that
we live in today when young people are silenced by the state for
daring to protest and raise opposition to the war on terror and
Blair's best friend Bush. Messages of solidarity can be sent to
 yorkshirerevo@worldrevolution.org.uk - and requests for more
information.