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anarchist bookfair ends in police riot

rikki | 22.10.2005 19:28 | Repression | London

police, wired up for an arsenal match, closed holloway road and provoked trouble after anarchist bookfair in north london this evening

first arrest
first arrest

arrest in holloway road
arrest in holloway road

wired riot cop
wired riot cop

cops infront of the pub
cops infront of the pub

unprovoked arrest
unprovoked arrest

riot police advancing
riot police advancing

man on crutches being pushed
man on crutches being pushed


the bookfair at the resource centre today was extremely well-attended, and a very positive and optimistic coming together of many types of people concerned by the way our authoritarian society is developing. the day ended in a fitting but terrifying and wholly unnecessary practical demonstration of our violent police state.

when the event ended at six o clock, many of the participants went to the local 'coronet' pub for a drink. the large space was packed. a small group switched on a sound system for some entertainment, and the pub manager reacted astonishingly by closing the bars, refusing to serve anyone in the pub and calling the police.

as arsenal had finished playing nearby, there were a lot of very wired police on duty who turned up en masse as people were leaving the pub.

after a small altercation in the road, riot police started pushing and shoving people indiscriminately, as well as kicking and punching.

the road was completely closed off to southbound traffic for more than 40 minutes causing huge disruption in the area.

there were at the very least 4 arrests. i witnessed one completely unprovoked arrest. one woman got pushed over by advancing riot police and broke her ankle. i also witnessed one man on crutches being violently pushed by riot police.

from a small incident, police completely escalated the situation into a major incident and caused injury and made spurious and dubious arrests.

rikki

Comments

Display the following 40 comments

  1. stretchered lady — Ann & Archie
  2. Over-reaction — Anne Archy
  3. The thing is... — Matt
  4. evidence needed — zcat
  5. anarchist muppets — social anarchist
  6. was the music meister actually anything to do with the bookfair? — bobby
  7. I was there... were you? — Sir Cumspect
  8. The woman on the stretcher — Wetherspoons - killing working class culture
  9. Circumspect — person in pub
  10. crusty sound system — Peter
  11. what a reponse ! — Sir Cumspect
  12. Anxiety culture... — Anne Archie
  13. Anyone but a narc' eh!? — Sir Cumspect
  14. Hello Hello — Jones
  15. Circumspect — madashell
  16. Pub Politics — Pie and Pint
  17. Need to get real? — Brian B
  18. Need to get more real — Jo Ho
  19. Beyond the sound system... — Sir Cumspect
  20. Mr. Resister — Mr. Resister
  21. Sir Cumspect — Watcher
  22. Sir Cumspect 2 — Dave the Hat
  23. Dave the [Tw]at — not impressed
  24. the truth is out there — stomp
  25. As I saw it. — Alex
  26. Saturday night at the Coronet — Eric
  27. Not Impressed (?) — DTH
  28. DTH — S(till_)not impressed (see what *I* did there!)
  29. D***Head Dave. — Sir Cumspect
  30. Sir Cumspectual evidence — Watcher
  31. A short(ish) reply — DTH
  32. Watcher? But not a seer? — Sir Cumspect
  33. DTH — Um used to be Not Impressed... sheepish grin.
  34. Get it right — witness
  35. Crusties- Catalysts not scapegoats — Homer Simpson
  36. That old line again — A
  37. My Take — David
  38. Perspective — Davabalo
  39. photos — bobby
  40. u can't blame em — captian blood