Voluntary Slave | 10.09.2003 18:27 | DSEi 2003 | London
Voluntary Slave
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Comments
Hide the following 10 comments
Well done you lot!
10.09.2003 18:46
I work in Canning Town, and it’s brought myself and many others a guilty sense of pleasure seeing the effects of the protests at the Excel Centre. The traffic across the borough has been at a standstill since lunchtime, and huge numbers of policepersons have been running about like maniacs. People have been getting off buses and walking, and even – heaven forefend! – gathering in groups to discuss what’s going on. My boss – not previously outspoken on geopolitical matters – even unleashed an anti-imperialist diatribe when interviewed by the BBC (somewhat typically, it was not shown on tonight’s local news, which stuck with the usual police vs. protesters stand-off template).
Sight of the day: three hire vans caught in traffic, packed with cramped, miserable looking cops. Seems they didn’t even have enough fast blue-lights to get them to the scene of the crime.
On behalf of myself, my colleagues, and the neighbours I’ve spoken to, thanks for making a stand. We didn’t want this disgusting festival of murder in our borough. Now, if you could walk down the road and evict ‘Sir’ Robin Wales from East Ham Town Hall, you’d make us even happier!
Newham resident
Well done you lot!
10.09.2003 18:55
I work in Canning Town, and it’s brought myself and many others a guilty sense of pleasure seeing the effects of the protests at the Excel Centre. The traffic across the borough has been at a standstill since lunchtime, and huge numbers of policepersons have been running about like maniacs. People have been getting off buses and walking, and even – heaven forefend! – gathering in groups to discuss what’s going on. My boss – not previously outspoken on geopolitical matters – even unleashed an anti-imperialist diatribe when interviewed by the BBC (somewhat typically, it was not shown on tonight’s local news, which stuck with the usual police vs. protesters stand-off template).
Sight of the day: three hire vans caught in traffic, packed with cramped, miserable looking cops. Seems they didn’t even have enough fast blue-lights to get them to the scene of the crime.
On behalf of myself, my colleagues, and the neighbours I’ve spoken to, thanks for making a stand. We didn’t want this disgusting festival of murder in our borough. Now, if you could walk down the road and evict ‘Sir’ Robin Wales from East Ham Town Hall, you’d make us even happier!
Newham resident
Us lot
10.09.2003 20:41
red
Civil Society
11.09.2003 01:20
Peace - Spod
Spod
heavy handed
11.09.2003 10:03
Once some of us were inside the park, the police proceeded in “throwing” people through the gates. On more than one occasion people fell on the floor, with the police continuing to push yet more people through. Shame on you indeed mr plod.
Holding us for an hour and half seemed futile, and they insisted that they COULD take your photo, and any refusal to remove masks, or attempts to cover you hand with you face (or even simply refusing to look at the camera) resulted in them pushing you back into the crowd until you were “ready to co-operate”
Sound support from residents as we made our way to the A13 though, and great puppet show from two children whist we waited to get into the park (Sooty and Sweep were stars!) comical moment of the afternoon had to be the mass panic as the police realised there was a macshite en route…and scrambled to ‘protect’ it….only for the 200 odd strong crowd to laugh as we walked past
me
Thanks Newham people
11.09.2003 11:14
Thank you everyone for looking out for us, even if you wernt blockading and protesting with us on the days. Spod, many local peeps are doing stuff like picking their kids up from school, doing the shopping with their toddlers or going about their buisiness having not reolised what was about to happen next door. If you want thousands of locals out on the street, do a bit of networking, get out there in advance, talk to people and invite them along. Myself, I feel like the locals were really looking out for us.
phatpat
someone who was the other side of the police.
11.09.2003 11:14
the local kids were funny. they were throwing tvs and fireworks at the police.
a
Another local resident
11.09.2003 12:50
Pleased to see the efforts made by all to voice their opinions. All was going well with my full support until some idiot caused a DLR closure yesterday afternoon, ruining transport links for thousands.
It's always going to be a small majority that ruin it for all. What was the point of disrupting everyone? It only created hostility from the general public towards the protesters.
Now less people support the protest!
Hammo
Hammo, old son...
11.09.2003 15:09
A lot of people came from all over this and other countries to try and shut down the death-fair.
You did not, even though you live round the corner.
If you can't be arsed to forfeit a day's pay when all these folks - who aren't millionaire dilletantes, by the way - were working so hard against DSEI, and getting battered by the cops, at least give your moral support, including for the direct action.
Please reconsider, friend!
squatticus
Cop brutality at park gates - pressing charges
12.09.2003 15:37
Handily enough I'm also pretty prominent on the footage that I think's on the 'violence at park gates' page - although I could do with some photos/footage/witnesses of me being dragged out the crowd, shoved back in and then pushed over a bike by a charming WPC who just watched while I floundered on the tarmac with my foot trapped under the bike tire. Muchos thanks to the fellow protestor who picked me up and made sure I was OK - I think I was too shocked to thank you at the time, so if you're out there, please get in touch. Ditto to the people who I didn't realise at the time, but having seen the footage, can see were trying to help me stay upright while I was struggling my way out of a headlock.
The footage is pretty good - though from the vantage point in the park you can't make out how much the coppers were pushing us from all sides into each other and crushing us before we were even near the park gates. They really did behave like animals - ignoring our pleas for them to calm down and stop pushing 'cos people were getting hurt. The protestors were remarkably calm, restrained and good-natured under such obvious provocation and truly appalling, thuggish behaviour by the police.
I want to kick up as much fuss as possible. We must not allow them to treat us like this. We will not let them intimidate us out of exercising our legal right to protest and express political dissent. Threaten us all you like guys - you can't crush our spirit.
RevAngels
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