18 Anti capitalist protestors met at the exhibition train station in Glasgow at 7:30 yesterday. They were in opposition to the "Effecient Consumer response meeting" that was being held at the Scottish Exhibition and Conference Center.
18 Anti capitalist protestors met at the exhibition train station in Glasgow at 7:30 yesterday. They were in opposition to the "Effecient Consumer response meeting" that was being held at the Scottish Exhibition and Conference Center. Once through the tunnel that took them to the front of the exhibition center they were met by 25 police officers. They forced their way up to the front doors despite being ordered to stay inside the protest pen that was created for them. A German journalist who was covering the conference from the inside was forcibly pushed back into the Convention Center after he tried to come and speak to the protestors. The protestors and myself were pushed back into a protest pen the police had made earlier. The barricades were breeched many times by protestors, and for a while things were very hectic as protestors ran to the front doors being chased by Security guards. I noticed, however that the police were not chasing any protestors. Could it be that we were on public property, and there were no grounds to arrest anyone?The top managers and CEOs from the biggest names in capitalism were meeting to discuss how to cut costs. The protestors believed that the corporations were planning to further exploit already underpaid workers in developing countries, further ease environmental regulations, and cut thousands of jobs in the UK and elsewhere. I tried to interview a few delegates to get their side, however every time I tried I was pushed back into the protest pen by police with the protestors. One Delegate responded that we were "Too Nosy". I saw one police officer hassling a young man for no apparent reason. The police officer crossed the barricade came up to the young man, and told him not to even try to cross the barricade. This wound up cop even made the other police present seem offended by his behavior. All in all the police presence there was ridiculous. At one point I counted 48 policemen gurading the entrance, this dwarfed the eighteen protestors that wandered in the protest pen. The conference concludes on thursday with a banquet for all the attendees. The public ,however, are not invited.
