Okay – maybe for only five minutes – but at least we got to obstruct 20,000 cops, which might be a record.
Fit Watch set out to turn the tables on the cops at the Police Federation march and give them a taste of their own medicine. It wasn't out most organised action by any stretch of the imagination, and there are many areas to improve, but we did manage to annoy a large number of cops with our prop and piss taking (as can be evidenced from the number of cops now responding to our blog – www.fitwatch.blogspot.com).
Whilst some members took photos, others handed out leaflets explaining that there was a Section 14 in place and they should be sensible and move into a pen. However, we ran out of leaflets within minutes due to the blind obedience of cops who saw the Met police logo and took them without question.
The flyer, however, was wrong. We meant to impose conditions on the march under Section 12, not 14 of the Public Order Act. But like any good police direction, we were making it up as we went along.
Making it up was certainly what the cops who arrested the two fit watchers were doing. Whilst we were originally arrested for breaching the commissioner's regulations for standing at the front of the march, it took an hour of discussions at West End Central, (including a few huddles outside of the CCTV ed custody suite), and a promise from the custody sergeant that they “would find something”, before they came up with the heinous crime of highway obstruction.
After ten and a half hours in custody, an interview which included statements from fifteen cops (not including the ever present FIT team, whom we'd of course want to give evidence in court), we have been bailed to return to West End Central in March. We are challenging the police to prosecute us. They may not like us, but is it worth the expense of getting fifteen cops (including the Chief Inspector) into court for highway obstruction?
Furthermore, the original confrontation arose because a Fit Watcher wanted to join the march and the police stopped her. They claimed (and this is reiterated in their notebooks) that the march was a closed event and was only open to members of the police federation, their families and friends. This contradicts the statements from the police federation who claimed “we didn't ask him to leave because whether we like it or not we live in a democracy”, when challenged about the presence of a BNP leader at the front of their march.
The growth of Fit Watch is giving a clear message that people are no longer prepared to tolerate repressive policing.
Get involved with Fit Watch – join the mailing list by sending a blank email to
fitwatch-subscribe@lists.riseup.net
Fit Watch will be holding a public meeting on Saturday 8th March, 2pm, at LSE.
More details will be published soon – but should be a good chance for people to get together and discuss how we resist current policing tactics.
And, a special invitation to those lovely officers in the Forward Intelligence Team. You are cordially invited to attend this meeting (standing outside, of course), as it will give us an ideal opportunity to start the day with a practical session.
Whilst some members took photos, others handed out leaflets explaining that there was a Section 14 in place and they should be sensible and move into a pen. However, we ran out of leaflets within minutes due to the blind obedience of cops who saw the Met police logo and took them without question.
The flyer, however, was wrong. We meant to impose conditions on the march under Section 12, not 14 of the Public Order Act. But like any good police direction, we were making it up as we went along.
Making it up was certainly what the cops who arrested the two fit watchers were doing. Whilst we were originally arrested for breaching the commissioner's regulations for standing at the front of the march, it took an hour of discussions at West End Central, (including a few huddles outside of the CCTV ed custody suite), and a promise from the custody sergeant that they “would find something”, before they came up with the heinous crime of highway obstruction.
After ten and a half hours in custody, an interview which included statements from fifteen cops (not including the ever present FIT team, whom we'd of course want to give evidence in court), we have been bailed to return to West End Central in March. We are challenging the police to prosecute us. They may not like us, but is it worth the expense of getting fifteen cops (including the Chief Inspector) into court for highway obstruction?
Furthermore, the original confrontation arose because a Fit Watcher wanted to join the march and the police stopped her. They claimed (and this is reiterated in their notebooks) that the march was a closed event and was only open to members of the police federation, their families and friends. This contradicts the statements from the police federation who claimed “we didn't ask him to leave because whether we like it or not we live in a democracy”, when challenged about the presence of a BNP leader at the front of their march.
The growth of Fit Watch is giving a clear message that people are no longer prepared to tolerate repressive policing.
Get involved with Fit Watch – join the mailing list by sending a blank email to
fitwatch-subscribe@lists.riseup.net Fit Watch will be holding a public meeting on Saturday 8th March, 2pm, at LSE.
More details will be published soon – but should be a good chance for people to get together and discuss how we resist current policing tactics.
And, a special invitation to those lovely officers in the Forward Intelligence Team. You are cordially invited to attend this meeting (standing outside, of course), as it will give us an ideal opportunity to start the day with a practical session.
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Comments
Hide the following 9 comments
Still laughing
26.01.2008 00:02
Hilarious work, would have love to have seen it. Any videos coming soon?
At the cops
Why are there always three
26.01.2008 10:41
One can read
One can write
The other is there to keep an eye on the two intellectuals.
Gulliver
I Hate To Be Negative, But...
26.01.2008 11:18
Innocent Dave
e-mail:
Gitboy@Action4Peace.org
make em laugh
26.01.2008 15:22
Great action, though I thought idea was to poke fun at fit watch not the rank & file who came to london, activists do take details of bad coppers when we can.
Many police there were probably not Metro's the most politically used force in London, miners strike etc who we often face& who myself & many have been attacked & fitted up by. Space Hijackers seemed to take mick out of what the real Fit watch do successfully & raise smiles from the ranks.
Tactically we can get some solidarity with the good police & government"as zapatistas say by taking the piss out of corporate government more than taking the piss out of them, many of whom genuinely do the job for communities.
It can be a shite job, they often have to deal with violent messes made by the corporate system, very similar to being a activist.
As many radical grannies used to say including my own who got her family through nazi & soviet occupied Poland & then a siberian slave camp, make em laugh. Sexy laughter is the best protest technique in the world & reveals diehard fash 5th column who usually dont laugh, disarms prejudice & gives us a better chance for revolution.
AJ
make em laugh
26.01.2008 16:23
Great action, I thought idea though was to poke fun at fit watch not the rank & file who came to london, activists do take details of bad coppers when we can.
Many police there were probably not met the most politically used force in London, miners strike etc who we often face. Space Hijackers seemed to take mick out of what the real Fit watch do successfully & raise smiles from the ranks.
Tactically we can get some solidarity with the good police & government"as zapatistas say by taking the piss out of corporate government more than taking the piss out of them, many of whom genuinely do the job for communities.
As many radical grannies used to say including my own who got her family through nazi & soviet occupied Poland & then a siberian slave camp, make em laugh, it is the best protest technique in the world, it disarms prejudice & gives us a better chance for revolution
To any cops reading did you really join the force to support this & then not even get promised wage raises?
If dodgy corporate"skynet",matrix goes active in bad way you would be taken out by the drones first & should be on the frontline protesting together with us
AJ
It's not so simple...
26.01.2008 22:10
Of course none of us have a problem with the police arresting rapists and murderers. But some of us do have a problem with the police. The problem occurs because the police - all of them - will happily follow orders to beat the hell out of striking workers, harass demonstrators, or just victimise some poor bastard who had a few too many on Saturday night.
The police are there to protect the state and corporate power. Take on them, and you take on the police. Good cops and bad apples alike.
good cop bad cop
response by police fed on BNP guest
27.01.2008 14:43
geoff
Homepage:
http://fitwatch.blogspot.com/
excellent
28.01.2008 16:40
babs tucker
Link to another relevant article re. FIT Watch
20.02.2008 09:33
Helen Hintjens
e-mail:
hintjens@iss.nl
Homepage:
http://iss.nl