Current situation in Copenhagen in brief, the fight for free spaces continues and escalates as we reach the 6 month anniversary of the eviction of Ungdomshuset, and a well known (and hated) repressor "loses it".
Bjarne Leglock Loses It
- video/x-ms-wmv 808K
Occupied Inland Ice
Here's a brief update on the situation in Copenhagen, Denmark, previously home to the left radical social and culture center Ungdomshuset.
In the past week events have been escalating, as the six month anniversary of the eviction of Ungdomshuset approached, and political proceedings in the council got back into full swing after the holidays. Several of the leftwing parties in the council have been publicly advocating the creation of a "new" house, although scepticism concerning the willingness of politicians to put weight behind the words is widespread.
A week of actions that was announced some time ago has been displaying the full range of actions and tools of the left radical movement to the city at large. The week of actions opened with a mass demo, that ended in a symbolic storm of town hall, much to the surprise of the police. Following this there have been several demos covering various topics as aspects of a joint struggle, meant to show, that what was once a struggle for a house has been turned into a massive struggle against a repressive system. The actions also included symbolic squattings of a "kids house" (referring also to an old case, where the council still owes another group of left radical child-power activist a house) and of the inland ice on greenland (picture attached).
On saturday a several thousands strong demo marked the six months anniversary of the eviction. The demo was followed by a street party with soundsystem and djs on the site of the now torn Ungdomshuset. During the night the party erupted into full blown riots resulting in massive damage to several franchise stores, including a McDonalds, burning barricades, several injured police officers and a burnt riot van. During the riots approximately 65 people were arrested, 5 of whom were detained longer than 24 hours. Many were charged with disturbing the peace or assaulting a police officer.
The week of actions continues until wednesday, and on October 6th activists have publicly declared a massive squatting action of a well known house owned by the council in the hopes that a permanent occupation will be possible.
Included in this article is a small tidbit from a previous demo, about ten days ago. This demo was attacked by police in front of the house of parliament and continued on unofficially through the city causing minor riots on the way. The video is of the well known "Bjarne Benlås (leg lock)" who heads most police operations against left radical activities, just as he "loses it".
With greetings - the (not so traditionally) wonderful Copenhagen ;)
In the past week events have been escalating, as the six month anniversary of the eviction of Ungdomshuset approached, and political proceedings in the council got back into full swing after the holidays. Several of the leftwing parties in the council have been publicly advocating the creation of a "new" house, although scepticism concerning the willingness of politicians to put weight behind the words is widespread.
A week of actions that was announced some time ago has been displaying the full range of actions and tools of the left radical movement to the city at large. The week of actions opened with a mass demo, that ended in a symbolic storm of town hall, much to the surprise of the police. Following this there have been several demos covering various topics as aspects of a joint struggle, meant to show, that what was once a struggle for a house has been turned into a massive struggle against a repressive system. The actions also included symbolic squattings of a "kids house" (referring also to an old case, where the council still owes another group of left radical child-power activist a house) and of the inland ice on greenland (picture attached).
On saturday a several thousands strong demo marked the six months anniversary of the eviction. The demo was followed by a street party with soundsystem and djs on the site of the now torn Ungdomshuset. During the night the party erupted into full blown riots resulting in massive damage to several franchise stores, including a McDonalds, burning barricades, several injured police officers and a burnt riot van. During the riots approximately 65 people were arrested, 5 of whom were detained longer than 24 hours. Many were charged with disturbing the peace or assaulting a police officer.
The week of actions continues until wednesday, and on October 6th activists have publicly declared a massive squatting action of a well known house owned by the council in the hopes that a permanent occupation will be possible.
Included in this article is a small tidbit from a previous demo, about ten days ago. This demo was attacked by police in front of the house of parliament and continued on unofficially through the city causing minor riots on the way. The video is of the well known "Bjarne Benlås (leg lock)" who heads most police operations against left radical activities, just as he "loses it".
With greetings - the (not so traditionally) wonderful Copenhagen ;)
