A spot of impromptu fare-dodging followed by a lot of impromptu FIT team dodging meant that I didn't even get close to the Class War meet up point.
Instead I was met with a wall of cops.
Instead I was met with a wall of cops.
The fake police stall at the start of the march was a giggle, if unthreatening, but with FIT teams starting to stop and search I decided it was best to attempt to find the anarchist contingent.
Being the only (far from undercover) anarcho in a crowd of thousands of cops was at best surreal, punctuated by quick flashes of extreme anxiety and a compulsion to occasionally scream 'I'm not with them'.
But, trapped as I was, I shuffled down Victoria Street generally avoiding eye contact and wishing I was somewhere else.
Hearing a scuffle I fell to the back of the march where a woman was being violently arrested (pics below). Ringed by aggro cops (trying to block photographers), it was hard to find out why, although one of the Met's finest grunted at me: 'Section 5, she was swearing'. Meanwhile the FIT team were photographed in Starbucks stocking up on doughnuts.
The cops all wore white caps, whether this was to symbolise their submissive, lackying to the state or a symbol of the preferred skin colour of officers was unclear. This march was very male, very white and very, very dull.
Out of uniform all coppers still look the same and still look like coppers. Some conspiracy theorists have speculated they were all cloned from a single pork sausage.
Cops marched in silence with nothing in the way of support from the general public who seemed to view the whole affair with mild disdain. And reports of 25,000 demonstraters in tonights sub-Standard are bollocks, you can halve that and then knock off a couple of thou'.
The mass lobby of parliament was also an abject failure with barely a handful committed enough to stay out of the pub. So much for the queue of '7,000-10,000 policemen and women queuing outside the Palace of Westminster' trumpeted on the Police Federation's website.
Brian Haw and co were good value for money as ever, ranting at the cops mingling around Parliament Square after the march ended. But for this vegetarian the smell of bacon and cheap aftershave was a bit too much so I sloped off home before I got meself in trouble.
pics at
http://johnnyvoid.blogspot.com
Being the only (far from undercover) anarcho in a crowd of thousands of cops was at best surreal, punctuated by quick flashes of extreme anxiety and a compulsion to occasionally scream 'I'm not with them'.
But, trapped as I was, I shuffled down Victoria Street generally avoiding eye contact and wishing I was somewhere else.
Hearing a scuffle I fell to the back of the march where a woman was being violently arrested (pics below). Ringed by aggro cops (trying to block photographers), it was hard to find out why, although one of the Met's finest grunted at me: 'Section 5, she was swearing'. Meanwhile the FIT team were photographed in Starbucks stocking up on doughnuts.
The cops all wore white caps, whether this was to symbolise their submissive, lackying to the state or a symbol of the preferred skin colour of officers was unclear. This march was very male, very white and very, very dull.
Out of uniform all coppers still look the same and still look like coppers. Some conspiracy theorists have speculated they were all cloned from a single pork sausage.
Cops marched in silence with nothing in the way of support from the general public who seemed to view the whole affair with mild disdain. And reports of 25,000 demonstraters in tonights sub-Standard are bollocks, you can halve that and then knock off a couple of thou'.
The mass lobby of parliament was also an abject failure with barely a handful committed enough to stay out of the pub. So much for the queue of '7,000-10,000 policemen and women queuing outside the Palace of Westminster' trumpeted on the Police Federation's website.
Brian Haw and co were good value for money as ever, ranting at the cops mingling around Parliament Square after the march ended. But for this vegetarian the smell of bacon and cheap aftershave was a bit too much so I sloped off home before I got meself in trouble.
pics at
http://johnnyvoid.blogspot.com
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Comments
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Most boring demo ever?
23.01.2008 19:17
Itsme
cheering crowds love cops
23.01.2008 20:35
trueanarchist
Homepage:
http://www.schmoontherun.blogspot.com
Wan't It Dire?
23.01.2008 21:16
Some classic chanting from the Class War contingent, two good banners, and some fun interaction with the police, including one cop who actually shut up when I told him to!
Two arrests that we know of, both girls from the FITwatch group - if anyone has any information or photos I'm sure they'd love to hear from you at
The Evening Standard's coverage showed clearly that they didn't go, with the size of the march increasing throughout the article and a guess that it 'stretched for three miles'... ha.
Best guess, 7-8,000 marchers.
Trueanarchist, I assume you're refering to those touvhing displays of affection from the public primary schools who turned their students out onto the street and blagged them into cheering. Such a touching and honest display of support for a march that the kids had clearly thought about and supported with their whole hearts.
I missed the Space Hijackers, sadly. How did that all go?
Innocent Dave
e-mail:
Gitboy@Action4Peace.org
BNP and Police fed hand in hand
23.01.2008 22:22
copwatcher
BNP's richard barnbrook
23.01.2008 23:17
Bnp mayoral candidate
copwatcher
Liberal dem mayor candidate & other uninvited politicians@front too
24.01.2008 00:46
We know system we live in is criminal & increases crime, when more & more police to be "deconditioned" educated & to admit this, then we may get to situation like that during the febuary revolution in Russia before the Bolsheviks too over when army then police actively joined in.
Class war can be great though often now seem to make a great image for corporate media's stereotype of anarchism, yobs looking for trouble,sometimes allied with drunk assholes who hit or accidently seriously cut their own side with bottles as Ive experienced whilst we were trying to defend ourselves in an organised manner. Anarchism is Order, government by & for people with direct rule & consensus not rule by corporate elites hellbent on investing in robots,cyborgs & clones to replace humans & programmed to kill,
The police should defend their wage, though next time any of us are on picket we need to remind them repeatedly of their own treatment by corporate government.
AJ
Police protest 'must try harder' next time
24.01.2008 12:40
There was a lot of good advice for the new protesters, as they were a bit inexperienced being on the other side of the line. The stall offered chants and songs (slightly adapted for their needs), suggested placards as well as blank ones to write an individual message. Information was also provided explaining your (remaining) rights as a protester, and on what to do if the Police turn up. Especially helpful were the face masks in regulation police colours, provided for protesters feeling threatened by the FIT team, or to cover up their identities if things kicked off later. They sorely needed help as it was pretty boring otherwise.
I think they enjoyed the irony of their new situation. We definitely did.
Professional Protest Management