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About the park squat

Anders | 02.07.2005 17:24 | G8 2005 | Analysis | Free Spaces | Globalisation

Yesterday we squatted a park then the police showed up and it ended up with most of the people got to sleep in the official campsites anyway.
This is my story.

bout the parksquat
We were a group from Sweden arriving this Tuesday.
There were no place to stay so in lack of other alternatives we tented in a park.
Even tough we could have stayed in the official campiste this was not an alternative for us becouse of bad experiences from Gothenburg and what we read about Genoa.
When the train from London finally arrived on friday we were happy to be able to do a fullscale parksquat partly to have a safe space to stay and partly to protest against the terribel conditions in the Jack Kane camping.
So what happens was that everybody got there, happily putting up their tents.
And then the police arrived as expected forming a ring around the campsite.
Some politician comes up and threatens us, telling us to go to the Jack Kane prison.
Saying we are a public Health problem!
And then the troubel begins, really.
The police were not the big problem. We were like houndred people maby more. And they were maby Forty.
I don't think that they would have evicted us. Camping is not a serious crime.
We could have ignored them put up guards and then go to sleep.
But instead we keep a completely disorganised meeting. And belive me it was not consencus becouse
thoose who shouted most loud were the ones to be deciding finally.
At last people were too tierd to care, everybody went away without the police lifting a finger.
Some of us spoke to the neighbours and they were supporting us.
A man was shouting you are welcome the police is not!
Maby we can try to comunicate with each other in a better way the next time we do this?
But anyhow they took the cameras down in The Jack Kane center so maby if we'll keep on squatting
they take the fences and securtity guards away as well.

Anders