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Vigil and protest at Stockwell, Monday 25th July

Anon | 26.07.2005 08:49 | Anti-militarism | London

A brief report on the vigil and spontaneous protest that took place last night (Monday 25th July) at Stockwell.

Last night around 150 - 200 people gathered outside Stockwell tube station to express their outrage at the killing Jean Charles de Menezes. Many had been there atthe vigil on Sunday. What was important was that the Latin American community, one of which knew Jean Charles, was heard and represented. At this time it is important that, yes, we make the links with all kinds of state murder and their contexts, but also that we allow people, who are not neccessarily part of the anti war or left movement, to express their grief and stand in solidarity with them.
Unity now is more important than ever. We do not need divisions based on political agendas to take priority over standing together against the common enemy. This is not to dismiss the importance of having clear and considered analysis of the events that unfold around us. But let us not be sufficated by this at a time where we need to react to the menace of the state.
The vigil then turned into a spontaneous demonstration, which was joined by other members of the public as we took over the road and walked all the way to the MI5 building in Vauxhall chanting "No more war, no more killing" and "No shoot to kill". Straight to the point and supported by many car drivers and people looking on from their homes. It was peaceful and full of energy. We were then surrounded by police when we tried to further the demo down to parliment. I left as the stand off between protesters and police started so I do not know if it became confrontational.

Anon

Anon