Saturday, Sept 6th: DSEi attempted to sail 4 warships along the river Thames, through Gallions Reach Lock and into the Royal Victoria Dock near the Excel exhibition centre on Saturday morning.
Three sperate affinity groups attempted to stop the naval vessals getting into Albert dock and DSEi by trying to block the lock gates with people in the water and to prevent the swing bridge from opening by locking-on with D'locks. There was a four hour window in which the tide allowed entry into the docks. The 30 activists succeeded in disrupting the manoeuvre, and the last 2 ships in the convoy aborted their mission and had to stop 7km down stream. Around sixteen people were arrested and taken to Charing Cross Police Station, where a solidarity protest took place to support the arrested and to wait for their release. Some were released without charge - others were charged with swimming in the dock or attempted criminal damage....
Links:
Boat action: reports [1,2]; pics [1,2] - video;
Charing Cross police station prisoner solidarity assembly: [pictures | video]
