Despite a very heavy and oppressive police presence, around 100 anti war demonstrators succeeded in shutting down the Esso filling station at Canonmills, Edinburgh on 3rd April.
Despite a very heavy and oppressive police presence, around 100 anti war demonstrators succeeded in shutting down the Esso filling station at Canonmills, Edinburgh on 3rd April.
Demonstrators gathered for around an hour on Princes Street, leafleting passers-by with the new ACTION AGAINST THE WAR bulletin and displaying NO BLOOD FOR OIL and other anti war placards.
Moving off for Canonmills, the demonstrators were quickly surrounded and hemmed in by perhaps 40-50 police, who kept the anti war people to the pavement. In addition to the officers on foot, there were 4 police vans and mounted police. Demonstrators who managed to elude the cordon to leaflet passers-by reported that people were astonished at the overbearing police presence and consequently sympathetic to the demonstrators.
Although the the massive police operation caused the march to Canonmills to be slow and frustrating, resulting in some demonstrators leaving the demo,nevertheless the demonstration reached its goal. The Esso manager shut the garage down soon after the arrival of an advance guard of 3 demonstrators who had escaped the cordon, and the presence of the main body of demonstrators kept the garage shut for around an hour in total. There were no arrests.
The demonstrators who made it to Canonmills showed considerable determination to persevere in the face of police intimidation. However clearly new tactics and an increased level of self-organisation and adaptability during demos are needed to combat the police clamp-down. We can take heart though from the facts that the operation obviously caused the police considerable time and expense and that a normally lucrative moneyspinner for a major oil company was closed during the middle of the day.
contact ACTION AGAINST THE WAR 0131 557 6242
Demonstrators gathered for around an hour on Princes Street, leafleting passers-by with the new ACTION AGAINST THE WAR bulletin and displaying NO BLOOD FOR OIL and other anti war placards.
Moving off for Canonmills, the demonstrators were quickly surrounded and hemmed in by perhaps 40-50 police, who kept the anti war people to the pavement. In addition to the officers on foot, there were 4 police vans and mounted police. Demonstrators who managed to elude the cordon to leaflet passers-by reported that people were astonished at the overbearing police presence and consequently sympathetic to the demonstrators.
Although the the massive police operation caused the march to Canonmills to be slow and frustrating, resulting in some demonstrators leaving the demo,nevertheless the demonstration reached its goal. The Esso manager shut the garage down soon after the arrival of an advance guard of 3 demonstrators who had escaped the cordon, and the presence of the main body of demonstrators kept the garage shut for around an hour in total. There were no arrests.
The demonstrators who made it to Canonmills showed considerable determination to persevere in the face of police intimidation. However clearly new tactics and an increased level of self-organisation and adaptability during demos are needed to combat the police clamp-down. We can take heart though from the facts that the operation obviously caused the police considerable time and expense and that a normally lucrative moneyspinner for a major oil company was closed during the middle of the day.
contact ACTION AGAINST THE WAR 0131 557 6242
