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There were no 'riots' in Edinburgh this afternoon.

ST | 05.07.2005 01:34 | G8 2005

An overview of one of the protests in Edinburgh on Monday 4th July.

There were no 'riots' in Edinburgh this afternoon. Instead, what there was was a lot of very nervous, twitchy police who were disorganised and seemingly without a proper idea of what they were doing; after blocking of Princes Street - Edinburgh's major thoroughfare - from the east and west, police in full riot gear corralled protestors, passers-by, journalists, photographers, people sitting enjoying the sun around the National Gallery and anyone unlucky enough to be in the area into a small contained area directly in front of the Royal Scottish Academy.

Occasionally making rushes towards the crowd, screaming "Move back! Move back!" the area of containment was gradually reduced in size. Huge steel gates were erected at the entrance to Hanover Street, directly opposite the RSA, and no one was allowed to leave. Shortly before the gates were closed, more people, who had been watching from Hanover Street, were allowed into the containment area.

Once the area was closed off, the police continued to reduce the size of the area, forcing people to jump fences in Princes Street Gardens, where they were pursued by police weilding batons; I saw several people be smacked back by shields, including one man who was deilberately hit full in the face by a riot shied as he tried to get out of the way of the police, but got trapped by a tree. A number of people tried to shelter from the onslaught of police behind a bench - the bench was torn up by the police, and the people were battered back towards the containment area. I watched one boy climb over the Princes Street garden fence in a state of obvious panic and impale his foot on one of the fence spikes.

Once the gardens were emptied, the police began making rushes into the crowd to remove certain individuals; I watched as one bare-chested man who was shouting peacefully at the police, without making any violent gestures, was beaten with riot shields, knocked to the ground, and was stamped on by a riot boot by a policeman, leaving him with a four inch gash in the flesh of his back.

I watched as a 16 or 17 year old youth was battered to the ground by a group of 8 policemen, cuffed and dragged across the ground to an area behind the riot barrier. What had he done? Thrown a piece of plastic at a riot shield.

I watched as one peaceful protestor, sitting singing songs with others on the steps of the gallery was dragged through the crowd for no apparent reason, cuffed and arrested.

After a period of about half an hour of escalating tension and violence from the police, things simmered down. We were left standing watching the police watching us; the photographers and journalists probably matched the genuine protestors in number; most of the people causing trouble were local youths, school kids who had seen an opportunity for a bit of fun.

As the afternoon wore on, and the police drank from the bottles of water denied to the crowd they'd hemmed in, people gradually relaxed and sat down in the road. By about half past five, an announcement was made that people could leave the area, one by one, having been subject to a full search, being photographed, filmed, and giving full personal details to police.

This wasn't a riot - it was an attempt by a group of police to try and justify their presence in the city; if they had not actively provoked an otherwise entirely peaceful crowd, there would have been no trouble at all. Instead they chose to trap and taunt a group of peaceable people; the only trouble I saw was caused by local kids, not by protestors. There was no Black Bloc, there was no Clandestine Insurgent Rebel Clown Army - there was just a group of peaceful protestors, passers-by - and locals kids who wanted to cause trouble.

I left - having photographed scenes you normally only see in the pages of newspapers - absolutely disgusted.

ST
- e-mail: memorymemory@gmail.com


Comments

Hide the following 30 comments

Clown journalism

05.07.2005 04:33

"shouting peacefully"

Are you kidding? Look up "oxymoron" in the dictionary. Then take off the first three letters and that is what you are. This is the most one-sided report I have ever read.

big man


doh

05.07.2005 06:39

look up dictionary in a bookshop, "big man".

"shouting peacefully" is not an oxymoron

X


View of the riots

05.07.2005 07:46

As someone who lives and works in Edinburgh I can certainly agree that the police presence was over the top and also that the appearance of riot police at lunchtime was certainly needlessly agressive. However, I have to tell you that not all the protesters were enjoying a "serene carnival atmosphere" in an entirely non-violent way. I witnessed black-clad folk screaming unprovoked and pretty foul abuse at police and I myself was sworn at a couple of times simply because I was walking back from work wearing a suit - even though I'm willing to bet that most of those doing the abusing have more money than I do.

No-one wants to see riot police on the streets but given what has happened at similar G8 protests before, it was absolutely unforgivable of protesters not only to keep the authorities out of the loop but also to deliberately "target" forces of law and order as objects of the protest.

Whatever the spin put on media reports, pro or anti, your cause will have won few friends among the residents of Edinburgh yesterday.

Andy

Andy


h

05.07.2005 07:59

batton charge for swearing i'd say that a fair swop? eh andy

b


The Wider Community

05.07.2005 09:18

The reactions I've read from Edinburgh residents on other forums (e.g. the BBC bulletin boards; Guardian bulletin boards) are pretty much mostly negative about the protesters yesterday, particularly the black-clad ones who hide their faces behind masks.

Now, we can argue all day about the proportionality of the police response and its heavy-handedness, but it's simply an intra-protest debate that is meaningless to the world beyond, surely?

How do movements effect change? Usually through public support, ultimately. An unfashionable idea amog critical social movements, I'll grant you, but there nonetheless.

John


the blac bloc

05.07.2005 10:20

an anarchist in a uniform


is an oxymoron


the bloc need to go underground

big style

blending in is more an act of anarchy
than wearing an identifiable set of stereotypes


imagine if their was no way for the authorities to tell
anarchist from protestor

would this scare them?

or would this force the hand of the police state

[of course this would be awful]

but wouldn't 'responsible' people notice this more?
[ie Journos wishing to get a scoop and climb their career ladders!]

How would no-trouble spin on the corporate media?

would they have to make it?

you bet

my advice to the blac bloc
get your heads down

and stop acting the way they want you to

rethink the strategy







paul c


Evil clowns

05.07.2005 10:47

Evil clowns might be funny to you guys but my kids are having nightmares
'just when I thought life couldn't get more shitty
THANKS

local mother


the point of protesting

05.07.2005 11:10

While I agree that ST's article was ridiculously one-sided, I disagree entirely with Andy when he says "it was absolutely unforgivable of protesters not only to keep the authorities out of the loop but also to deliberately "target" forces of law and order as objects of the protest."

What is the point of protesting if it's state sponsered?
Hello, we'd like to express how disillusioned we are with our current system and culture and how angry we are at the state of affairs right now, but we'd like to do it on your terms, so could you tell us where to go and what to do so we don't cause too much trouble for you. Thank you very much.

I too live and work in Edinburgh and I went along to the West End to watch the Carnival which at this point was a "serene carnival atmosphere" in an entirely non-violent way."
Then the police turned up and surrounded both public and protesters. I've never really held any sympathy for anarchist/anti-establishment groups, thinking they bring all the trouble on themselves, but after the ridiculous over-the-top aggression displayed by the police yesterday, I'm beginning to revise my opinion.

I'm feeling really lost right now because I don't see public support - the public that I am part of - changing anything. Peaceful protests just seem to slip through people's minds (and politician's minds as they are non-threatening) and violent protests just seems to alienate the public - neither action seems to engage the public to take some form of action to try and affect change.

What do we do?
Stephen :(

Stephen
mail e-mail: thedaffodilfish@hotmail.com


Think

05.07.2005 11:56

To understand the police's reaction, it is important to be aware of a couple of things:

First, compare the "carnival" with the Make Poverty History march on Saturday. On Saturday, Princes Street (and many other streets) were closed by the council as the march's organisers had liased with them and everything had been planned in advance. This is because, in a city, large gatherings of people need to be properly organised in order to avoid chaos. When such a gathering is properly organised and everybody works together, you can have many thousand people taking part in peaceful protest - or whatever - without anybody getting hurt, without private property being damaged (which is against the law) and with proper provision of toilets, first aid and things like that. On Saturaday, I saw between one and two hundred thousand people march through Edinburgh while the Police looked on and helped to ensure the safety of all the men, women and children taking part in the protest.

On Monday, there was no such organisation. A bunch of angry children with no idea how to organise anything other than a self-indulgent party, and with no respect whatsoever for people who live and work in Edinburgh, tried to take control of the city centre. It was laughable to watch 20-30 people chanting "the people, united, will never be defeated' while hundreds more stood around and chose not to join in. If that's supposed to be "the people, united" then those guys need to make some new friends. Unfortnatley for them, they will not make friends by pissing people off.

You do not march into a stranger's house, start making an impromtu party, and claim it is in the name of "the people". That is stupid. Of course the police are going to come and surround you if you do that.

Second, unlike the black bloc (or whoever these people are), the police are not completely stupid. They knew what to expect. They knew what the "carnival for full enjoyment" was really about. If the police had not turned out with such a heavy presence yesterday, Edinburgh would have suffered much more damage than it did, and many more innocent people could have been hurt.

beev


Evil Clowns?

05.07.2005 12:08

Oh come on!!!

Those clowms are peaceful, I bet you didn't even have the guts to go and speak to any of them.

Do you think that they would have been scared if the clowns were alowed to go about clowning rather than being corralled by the poolice.

These trolls are getting real lame!

Gary


Bunch of Weans

05.07.2005 12:10

Just a moment.......shouting peacfully IS an oxymoron.

Too anarchic for education, perhaps?

A Local


You obviously don't know me

05.07.2005 12:58

"Those clowms are peaceful, I bet you didn't even have the guts to go and speak to any of them"

Believe it or not, several of the clowns are friends of mine. I would give you their names but I'm sure it would not be approriate in the circumstances.

I do not have a problem with the clowns if they are able to stay calm and keep things FUNNY. That is what a clown is for.

I do have a problem with violence in my city. Like most Edinburgh residents, I want to feel safe in my hometown. I do not know the people who caused the violence. They are not my friends and never will be. I just know that when those people are not in town, things are a lot more peaceful and there are no riot police - none whatsoever - on the streets.

beev


Change from the inside

05.07.2005 12:59

Want to help change the world for the better? Do it from the inside. Example: Friend of mine took at job at a London borough council as their in-house print manager. Four year later, plus a lot of hard work, he was procuring print for the entire borough. The council now only contracts to Carbon Neutral printers who promote good working practices, use water based inks (where possible) and use recycled materials. The councils' annual print budget is around the £7m mark. Other councils are gradually following suit. This guy has made a real difference to the environment and he did it be using his brain, not a brick. Ignore those middle class trustafarian wankers causing trouble. They'll never change a thing.

Dr Tea


Ah, Peacful Protest

05.07.2005 13:12

So Stepehen, wondering what to do? Hmm, where to start...well, without rioting and disrupting our nation's capital anyway.

Well try voting for someone like the SSP or hell even the Greens, both of whom seem to be with you on this one. And if they don't get in then you're going to have to face the fact that that's how democracy works. Join a party and try and increase its share of the vote.

Go and support an organisation like Oxfam. They have a good record of lobbying on issues like this. Give them your financial support. Knock on doors, rattle cans.

Write to your MP, MSP, Councillor, MEP. Hell Tony Benn, Tommy Sheriday, Denis Canavan, and of course Gorgeous George will probably be planning some sort of attack already and will ber more than happy to have your support.

Buy ethically. Watch where you bank, where your pension is, and what you buy. Put your money where your mouth is.

Read some Michael Moore. Use your rights under FoI to see where government buys its materials, raise a stink if its as dodgy as it probably is.

I could go on, but the main thinh you might want to note is that "rioting" does not appear here. I wonder how many of these the troublemakers actually got opf their beam end and tried? Or is this just a good excuse for a rammy?

A Local


Give that Man a Prize

05.07.2005 13:19

Bang on, Dr. Tea.

A Local


Safety, what's that?

05.07.2005 13:46

Like most Ugandan residents, I want to feel safe in my hometown. I do not know the people who caused the violence. They are not my friends and never will be. I just know that when those people are not in town, things are a lot more peaceful, but the Lord's Resistance Army made me kill my family and torture my neighbours, now I am pregnant by rape. Please be angry and stop the G8 warmongers from funding lunatic armed rebel factions in Africa?

Kampala


errarae human est

05.07.2005 14:23

The poster seems to think we live in a regime soo repressive that we only have one source of information. Or perhaps they conveniently overlooked the many news stories like this:

 http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/this_britain/article296909.ece

Now normally I would people the benefit of the doubt, but having seen the footage of people digging up the pavement in EH and pelting the police, I would have to agree the post was erm somewhat biased.

As for the rest of the sad arses who endorse bashing human being beings with missiles and being so rude as to turn up to someone elses party for a fight: grow up or go join Combat 18, because you help no-one's cause... except that of what you espouse to oppose. And you are most probably being coerced by the Establishment. And if you chuck a rock or threaten anyone and get a kicking then I have NO sympathy at all.

Norman Tebbit


show us the proof and we will all be behind you

05.07.2005 15:42

"stop the G8 warmongers from funding lunatic armed rebel factions in Africa"

And you have proof of this? It would be good if we could all see it. Then maybe we have a chance of stopping it.

Thanks.

beev


proof!

05.07.2005 17:42

i keep seeing this theme recurring here on these boards


where is the proof
where is the proof
where is the proof

hey!

you are on the net, right?

go and find the truth yourself

that is what the net is for...

if you can trust yourself to believe it

and stop using your lack of
inquisitive powers
against others


try

'corpwatch'

or

'project censored'

for starters
put it in your 'search engine'


we're busy reading



paul c


Er, Horses?

05.07.2005 18:40

ST's comments are selective, not one-sided, and are spot on as regards Princes Street Gardens in my experience. I would add that to escape from the Gardens it was necessary to scale two locked gates to get out at the Mound end and that this option was closed off when riot police drove round to stand across the gate.

What I find astounding in reading all these comments is the complete lack of mention of the use of police horses during the Carnival, which enflamed the situation more than anything else: first on the corner of Charlotte Square and George Street, and later in a failed attempt to disperse people in Princes Street. (Is this omission some misguided concern for animal rights?)

If people picked up the nearest piece of wood or whatever, this was in response to the fear of being charged and mown down. Fortunately, the horses were withdrawn and police tactics changed. Their strategy was, however, the same from the beginning. Create a situation where "violence" was unavoidable through means of intimidating and searching people going to the Carnival, using a Scottish type sus law, then upping the ante as the lunch hour drew to a close. A self-fulfilling prophesy, in other words.

JB


This is Indymedia, not The Daily Mail

05.07.2005 18:40

I hope all the people who've criticised the article above as biased are also contacting mainstream media with the same criticism of their coverage (or does "biased" simply mean not reflective of BBC/ITV/Sky/Daily Mail/Guardian etc view to you?). There's nothing remotely surprising or revelatory in The Independent article Norman cited; just mainstream/establishment journalists and editors taking the side of the police, as usual.

The only "evil clowns" are the G8 heads of state.

As Make Poverty History put it, "8 men in one room can change the world" - as they fail to realise however, THAT'S THE ROOT OF THE PROBLEM.

You can't reform a political and economic system out of existence; the State steps in to protect the vested interests of the ruling elite when push comes to shove. Social revolution is necessary to achieve social justice. Sorry, but well-paid white collar jobs for the council ain't gonna cut it (regardless of the size of their budget!!!) because “working within the system” leaves the fundamentals of domination and exploitation untouched.

These characters equating shouting with violence are baffling to me. Timid souls must never leave the house, let alone attend sporting events or open air markets etc.

Sir Bob Millionaire


silent noise

05.07.2005 19:58

I was reading the Evening News and the BBC website today. Both gave a pretty accurate summary of events in that they seemed to observe pretty much the same things I did as an impartial observer. Remember that word "impartial"... it is important. Like the mainstrem journalists, I was not part of the protest or carnival or whatever you want to call it. Therefore, I was able to assess what I saw impartally. If you go to college and study media or journalism you will learn more about what it means to be impartial. The above article is far from impartial. It is the work of a complete amateur, like much of the stuff on this site.

As for corpwatch and the like, I am aware of these sites and I have explored them on many occasions. They can be very interesting. Do not make the mistake of thinking that I have no idea what is going on in Africa or elsewhere in the world. I have read at least as extensively as any of you self-professed experts, and I also have African friends who I can turn to for first-hand accounts. My point is not about what is going on in the world. It is that people who go out in the streets and act in such a way that the riot police have to be called in are stupid. If you really want to get in a scrap, why don't you travel to Africa and take on the militias you are so concerned about? I'm sure they will welcome you there.

Good luck, and may the force be with you!

Btw, did anyone get a video or audio clip of this person who was "shouting peacefully"? I'd love to hear what it sounds like.

beev


Nowt as Blind

05.07.2005 20:22

I can't help but notice an inherrent contradiction in the suggestion that extreme action including, inter alia, suggestions of rioting and violence to people and/or property is an acceptable means to achieving political change but that the use of violence by the police is unacceptable.

So are you the revolutionaries you claim to be - in which case take up arms but in the knowledge that you'll get the same right back at you (good for you my little Sandanistas, you brave and resolute if profoundly misguided individuals) - or are you just all middle class weekend soldiers who go crying "foul" the moment you get back what you preach?

I am similarly intrigued by the suggestion that even the left wing media has joined a global conspiracy to silence the "truth". Given the government's inability to manage a country properly, I have grave doubts any of them could come close to staging such a media coup (pun inteded).

Like most of us in Edinburgh, I'll be very glad when you all go home. But at least you make the standard of debating in Holyrood look high-brown by comparison.

Another Local


Who profits from violence?

05.07.2005 21:03

Violence is concealed by a lie and a lie is maintained by violence--
Qui bono?

Not Bono


Re: Global Media Conspiracy to Silence The Truth?!

06.07.2005 14:41

Another Local said: “I am similarly intrigued by the suggestion that even the left wing media has joined a global conspiracy to silence the "truth". Given the government's inability to manage a country properly, I have grave doubts any of them could come close to staging such a media coup (pun intended)”.

However, it’s not a case of a “conspiracy” at all. It’s about who owns and controls the media, and whose interests it serves. The following, admittedly from an American source, is instructive.

"Ben Bagdikian, a leading scholar on the topic, has been studying corporate news ownership for decades. In his 1982 book, The Media Monopoly, he reported that 50 corporations owned half or more of the media business. By the early 1990s that number was trimmed to 20, and is now well under 10. With such ownership comes bias, and news content now reflects a narrow "range of politics and social values from center to far right," Bagdikian writes, leaving the American audience with a press that covers "a narrowing range of ideas." Corporate ownership, to Bagdikian, "is no way to maintain a lively marketplace of ideas, which is to say that it is no way to maintain a democracy".

Media critic Robert W. McChesney is even more blunt in his assessment, attacking the "global commercial media system" as working "to advance the cause of the global market and promote commercial values, while denigrating journalism and culture not conducive to the immediate bottom line or long-run corporate interests".

A recent study in the Columbia Journalism Review (CJR) found this to be specifically true in how major news organizations covered protests at the International Monetary Fund meeting in Prague, the free trade talks in Quebec City, the European Summit in Sweden, and the G-8 meeting in Genoa. CJR examined over 200 stories on these events by the 10 major U.S. news organizations and newspapers, and discovered that editorial opinion "leaned heavily towards the corporate side" and either often dismissed the protest movement as "a circus" or "a sporting event," ignoring the serious economic and political issues invoked by the protest movement. "The underlying issues that have brought out hundreds of thousands of people are often glossed over or misrepresented" ".

(From “Independent Media Centers: Cyber-Subversion and the Alternative Press” by Gene Hyde)
Published by First Monday - see  http://www.firstmonday.org/issues/issue7_4/hyde/

However, the phenomenon of corporate ownership/bias is not (surprise, surprise) restricted to the USA:

"Influenced by the massive media mergers in the United States, the media environment in Scotland has witnessed trends towards media consolidation and foreign ownership. Further, these changes occurred because of major recent changes in UK law. According to the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) with the passing of the 'Communications Act of 2003' the United Kingdom now has the most liberal media ownership rules in all of Europe.1 The Act relaxed the laws governing non-European media ownership of UK media and loosened laws around cross-media ownership and cross promotion".

The Corporate Watch article from which the above paragraph is taken goes on to list who owns the major media outlets operating in Scotland – if you’re interested see  http://www.corporatewatch.org/?lid=1379






Sir Bob Millionaire


Australian side

06.07.2005 14:46

I'm an Australian and we have seen coverage on our news of what's been happening in the protests. What i saw was not a good sight from either side (all admitedly through largely mainstream media) however i do believe the statements in this article that the police acted in an innapropriate way (not an uncommon sight which is likely to have resulted in aggravation from both sides) and i do believe that the protesters were not the ones creating this problem and like suggested mainly a result of other parties. Well i hope whats said in this article reaches alot of the world whilst like anything it's biased i believe it has some important information which has been largely discarded by the press coverage here

Callum


Hats off to Callum, there

06.07.2005 17:14

Well hats off to Callum. He lives on the other side of the world, he wasn't at the riots, and yet he knows better than those of us locally what happened!

Phew!. What next Callum - going to tell us the winning lottery numbers for tonight's draw?

The Local Again


That Pesky Media Conspiracy Again

06.07.2005 17:21

Ben Bagdikian. Quite a figure, and quite a book. Must be a good 20 or 25 years old by now.

But lets get this straight. You are suggesting that ALL the world's media are deliberately and presumably erroneously putting the rioters in a bad light to reflect the interests of their owners. The Beeb too as their owners are presumably the Goverment.

Wow. Well here's my challenge. If you're so sure that you're right, publish it. Publish it somewhere public. When they sue you, defend it in court. I mean hell, you're right aren't you?

On you go, if the McDonald 2 can do it so can you. After all, you're all people ready to do whatever it takes to put capitalism down.

Pete


Violence Solves Nothing

07.07.2005 15:46

Gandhi:

I object to violence because when it appears to do good, the good is only temporary; the evil it does is permanent.

Nonviolence is the greatest force at the disposal of mankind. It is mightier than the mightiest weapon of destruction devised by the ingenuity of man.

Well, he was one of the great thinkers and won freedom for India. You guys trashed our city and achieved nothing. I think I'll stick with Gahdhi.

Boab


Action?

10.07.2005 15:44

When all peaceful means have been exhausted it is in the publics best interest to riot, violently. This shows the authorities the discontent that society feels (democracy), and forces their hands to bow to the will of the general public (GLOBALLY).
Now, I believe that with the anti-war movement (back in 2003) that all peaceful means of dissent have been exhausted (HUNDREDS OF MILLIONS MARCH WORLDWIDE (Peacefully might I add))... WE DID NOT CHANGE ANYTHING, WE (yes i mean we, because we are all part of the same society whether you like it or not) STILL WENT ON TO ATTACK IRAQ AND THE SLAUGHTER CONTINUES!
When I hear of people opposing violent protest it make my blood boil. What is happening is wrong, how can anyone say we are still living in a democratic society? When spontaneous protests have to be organised to minimise disruption (whats the point of a protest?) to economies... Have the democratic leaders finally conceived a way to ensure their future survival? Cattle-ise the public?
I ask:
Who are the good guys now?
Who were the good guys in the german publics eyes back in the 1930's? The Axis or the Alliance?
What side are we on?
Who have we chosen to lead us?
What side are they on?
There are many questions that the cattle-ised public don't care about, the apathetic, the sheep... Many Germans in the early 30's were apathetic to the Nazi regime...
Does History repeat its-self?
Yes... We are witnessing it now...

An old man once told me a little saying from a concentration camp...
"When they went after the jews, I did not speak up because I was not Jewish,
When they went after the gypsies, I did not speak up because I was not a Gypsy,
When they went after the gays, I did not speak up because I was not Gay,
... Now they are after me, and there is no one left to speak up for me..."

I will fight for what is right, because when they come after me I do not want to be alone.

We have already lost, but we can still fight!

unseen


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