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After meeting by the Palace Pier, the protest moved through the centre of Brighton cheering and chanting. Four young anarchists climbed to the top of the Barclays building, where they hung a banner reading “Arms Dealers Out Of Brighton’. Barclays is notorious for being one of the banks most complicit in the international arms trade. The people responsible for the banner were welcomed into the crowd as heroes, and avoided arrest.
After passing peacefully past the Clock tower, down Queens Road and through North Laine, the protest clashed with police on London Road. A heavy police presence blocked part of the road outside McDonalds, and minor scuffles quickly escalated as mounted and riot police forced through crowds to protect the building. A smoke-bomb lit by protesters, combined with a push forward from mounted police, frightened shoppers and nearly split the protest in two.
From then on, the protest became a game of cat-and-mouse - although it was sometimes hard to tell who was the cat and who the mouse. Protesters managed to force back mounted police several times, while police hastily re-grouped around the protest as it moved into residential districts and through Preston Park. However, neither protesters nor police seemed to have a plan as such, and after much walking and a few minor scuffles - including the arrest of one man by riot police - the protest moved back into the town centre.
On the seafront, for the first time in the day the police attempted to ‘kettle’ protesters by surrounding them on all sides. However, protesters quickly skirted down onto the beach and back onto the road behind police lines. The protest moved on peacefully and, after more skirting through narrow lanes and moving around police lines, settled on the grass outside St. Peter’s Church to dance and relax.
***** full photo-report here: *****
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Comments
Hide the following 25 comments
Well done
04.05.2009 19:16
I must add the filth were not on their best behaviour - batoning people for no reason and generally behaving like the unthinking thugs they really are. Probably not as bad as usual but still a fair sprinkling of gratuitous violence. Mind you, I personally enjoyed cycling straight through a line of riot cops on the seafront.
Keep it up Smash EDO.
Bob
BBC1 / ITN / Channel 4 - SMASH EDO! - Don't throw things at animals!
04.05.2009 19:42
These animals are NOT the police!
They are USED by the police!
I disagree with police animals being used like this but the people who throw things at them, sometimes killing them deserve a fucking good hiding.
Remove this if you must...it isn't a pro police posting but an anti wanker one. Only wankers hurt animals or think it's OK to support the scum that do!
I wish that the police would STOP abusing police horses and dogs by using them as riot control. ...
Mandy Ford.
Camden
Mandy in Camden [Stop Camden Animal Lab]
e-mail:
stopcamdenanimallab@yahoo.co.uk
Homepage:
http://www.myspace.com/stopcamdenanimallab
all you can get by now
04.05.2009 19:57
Ratamahatta
Animal people are fruitloops sometimes
04.05.2009 20:22
Get a grip.
Anarcho
For Mandy
04.05.2009 20:25
Newsy
?????
04.05.2009 22:12
iVICA
why cops are covering eyes of horses?
04.05.2009 22:49
...and now something a bit different...
Ratamahatta
@Ratamahatta
04.05.2009 22:57
FFS, get a grip...
Bob
Animal rights nutters.
05.05.2009 01:06
GetAGrip
mandy is not the voice of the ar movement
05.05.2009 09:07
mandy watch
wow
05.05.2009 12:27
(A)
Thoughts on Mayday Mayday!
05.05.2009 14:55
But despite that tirade of negativity, all in all, was a tiring but good day, and glad to be hearing about autonomous actions that coincided, too
Still, perhaps the opportunity of the upcoming anarchist conference might be well-used to all sit down and have a serious discussion of tactics for the coming years
Pink
@Mandy
05.05.2009 15:23
Generally because - through no fault of their own - said dogs and horses are attacking us. Yes, they shouldn't be made to, and yes, the blame lies with the police; but given a choice between getting trampled to death and defending yourself I would always support the latter, whether the tramplers are human or not.
anonymous
horses not guilty
05.05.2009 16:35
This seems to have been an unwelcome development in the Smash Edo demos, which could have been anticipated and largely prevented without resorting to Stop the War/SWP-type stewarding tactics. I did see one protester berate someone for throwing missiles at the horses but didn't witness any other such peer pressure. Libertarianism is fine but not when animals and front line protesters are being hit by those supposed to be on the same side.
shergar
A Minority Attacked Horses - We Must Act!
05.05.2009 18:09
It‘s not the sort of thing we are about! The horses, as has been said before, were just sanding still and they don’t choose to be there. The majority of us are not people that attack animals and the minority that do (after a warning) should lose the respect and protection of our groups; if necessary I feel they have to be removed.
@
Not so easy
05.05.2009 22:49
It was certainly made clear to him that this wasn't on, especially as he'd hit someone further forward. Remonstating with someone afterwards doesn't stop it happening another time, though.
The only way I can think of to prevent it isn't SWP style stewards telling people what to do, but maybe friendly people who tag along with folks who've just joined in because it's a lot more exciting than what usually happens in their town centre. That way, there would be someone to help distinguish between what's sensible, what's brave but worth doing if you're up for it, and what's just fucking stupid and grist for the Daily Mail and the cops' PR operation.
Stroppyoldgit
watch out
06.05.2009 00:09
I wasn't their so can't comment on what happened. but I've seen it before where what i believe to be one person posting whole conversations using different pseudonyms.
Ignore bollox.
its wrong to hit horses and dogs, unless in REAL self defense situations.
watch out for anyone on indy calling for action against other activists, with no factual bases or reference.
vegan - animal rights
Stroppyoldgit and vegan -animals rights
06.05.2009 12:47
I'm not a cop and anyone that was on the demo would have seen the bottles being lobbed at the horses, it was done by a very small number of people but it still happened. 3 of us (all ARAs) on the way back home were talking about it and what could be done about it. The fact it happened is everyone's problem (including mine) I called for it to stop but I probably could have done more.
@ Stroppyoldgit
I don't know if we need stewards we just need an attitude that doesn't tolerate it and if people do it after warnings maybe we should treat them the same as if a cop was in the middle of our demo. I'm not that physically strong but would certainly help if there were enough of us, in the same way as I took some of the attacks from the cops.
Party goer
Communication
06.05.2009 14:00
I do agree tho, that we need to communicate with the public more. Bystanders who hadn't already heard of EDO probably wouldn't have had a clue why we were there. The small 'shut ITT' flags and foot placards were nice, but too small really for people to see from a distance. It's a shame there weren't many large banners - there were only 3 or 4 of them, and almost all were in the black bloc...it's hard for us to function effectively as a black bloc while also being the only ones carrying massive banners, so it would've been nice if more people had brought some along!
Ms Anne Thropy
STONE THROWERS
06.05.2009 21:26
Stone throwing was completely out of order as it played directly into the hands of the police.
I don't have a problem per se with stone throwing at police if it is necessary to keep them back and you and your mates are in danger, but at the end of the day, we are not violent thugs, they are, and we shouldn't start violence unnecessarily.
The worst thing is that the people throwing didn't have the guts to go to the frontline themselves, but instead put others at risk.
And to be fair, everyone I spoke to about it, had challenged stone throwers whenever they could, and taken stones off them.
I had to stop some people throwing beer bottles at the horses, it was totally uncalled for. And again, I can understand violence against an animal that endangers your life, but the fact the horses are abused by ther police to be there is bad enough in the first place.
Whoever the stone throwers are, they are misguided, cowardly, idiots who put people they should be protecting, at risk. They are not welcome.
anon
Re: Stone Throwers
07.05.2009 10:43
Ms Anne Thropy
idiots...
07.05.2009 12:51
If you want to throw stuff at the filth (and I have absolutely no problem with that, I'm not here to pacify people) then do it from a position where you will actually hit them - rather than hitting someone with the courage to be on the frontline.
{A}
They are not animals any more
13.05.2009 14:35
I don't feel bad about someone hitting them because they are like the riot cops, nazi and military special units. Yes they are people and animals deep down but they have lost so much that we can't see them as nothing more then the enemy. I will hit a cop or throw a stone and him and the same goes for there equipment will get smashed, including the horses and dogs.
The best thing for the horse is to throw small steels balls (barings) under it's legs and let it charge and some thumbtacks down where the dogs are running. Also bikes are great to stop horses because you can put them in there legs or roll them under there chest.
I know I have a lot of animal rights people attacking me but until they can find a better way to stop the cops from using them. We will still have to defend our selfs
@
Mandy is right.
14.05.2009 18:38
@narchovegan
Mandy is right.
14.05.2009 18:38
@narchovegan