UK Indymedia

Birmingham Riots

15-08-2011 08:25

Birmingham Riots: August Riots | Birmingham

On the third day of rioting in London riots were being reported as spreading all over the capital with police resources being stretched to breaking point meaning they were unable to respond to all the incidents. It wasn’t until riots were reported in Birmingham however that it became clear that this was now a country wide issue and not just confined to London and, that the underlying issues causing the riots had gone beyond anger over the murder of Mark Duggan by armed police on Thursday.

On the newswire: Going off in Birmingham? | Birmingham's Militant Consumer Tour | Birmingham, West Brom, Salford | | bristol liverpool birmingham following london

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Summer of Unrest: an indymedia overview of the 'riots'

10-08-2011 13:31

The fiery unrest which ignited in Tottenham a few days ago, and which has rapidly spread through London and to other towns and cities across the country, has been largely and predictably condemned by politicians and the mainstream media as mindless violence, arson, theft and thuggery. While there is no denying that a number of the attacks have badly affected local people in local communities, some of whom have lost their homes and possessions and in one case their lives, blanket condemnation of those involved in the unrest is inappropriate and conveniently draws attention away from the context in which these events are taking place.

Britain's cities, towns and rural areas alike now boast record numbers of young unemployed people, often denied benefits, with few prospects, with many of those living in urban areas facing constant harassment by the police, especially if they happen to be black, with public services being cut all around them, and quite possibly with a growing mass awareness - thanks to movements like UK UnCut - of government support for super-rich corporations at the expense of the already impoverished. The fatal shooting of Mark Duggan and subsequent police lies might have been one trigger for the 'riots' in Haringey; another is almost certainly the decision of Haringey local authority to close the majority of the borough's youth clubs in a round of public spending cuts. In any event and whatever the triggers, the roots of the unrest are deeply embedded. No amount of repressive policing and overkill sentencing is going to solve this crisis, even if it succeeds in silencing dissent in the short term.

This feature draws together and links to eye-witness accounts and independent analysis, alternative voices offering a range of views and opinions. Read indymedia features from London, Nottingham and Bristol, opinion from SolFed, Fitwatch and individual commentators, and accounts from the streets as events have unfolded.

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J30: Generalise the Strike

29-06-2011 23:26

Read full article for a round-up of J30 action: a day of protest against pension cuts and more

See also regional features (links below) and the J30 topic.

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The Battle of Stokes Croft (Updated)

22-04-2011 19:04

An eye-witness of last nights event, which is now being referred to as 'The Battle of Stokes Croft': The police tactics were unfathomable. They seemed to consist of running from one end of Stokes Croft to the other (and up several side streets), randomly charging about the place, getting more and more people involved and moving the violence into new areas that had previously been quiet. Needless to say, the ‘active’ (ie. rioting) members of the crowd simply avoided the charges and filtered around to attack the police all over again from a different angle. The police helicopter flew low overhead constantly from 9pm to 4.30am, beaming its searchlight on anyone and everyone. This was not a tactic to win any ‘battle for hearts and minds’ either. Full article

Battle of Stokes Croft: eye witness/local resident report | The Lesser of Two Evils? | The Battle of Stokes Croft | it's kicking off in stokes croft | A 1/4 Century Of Community Policy Destroyed | STOKES CROFT TAKEOVER - COMMON UNITY GOOD FRIDAY - I PREDICT A RIOT???

Full article | 1 addition | 10 comments

Anti-cuts protestors take over London

27-03-2011 14:54

Yesterday’s March 26th ‘March for the Alternatives’ saw over 500,000 protest against Con-Dem governments’ neo-liberal austerity measures. The direct action on the streets of central London was also unprecedented in terms of scale and rage. The police were outrun on the streets, with their media spokesperson forced to concede that it is impossible to protect every business in the capital. Those businesses that were affected by actions were either linked to tax-evasion, or were symbols of affluence and privilege.

The compromised TUC leadership speaks in the same tone as the police and corporate media when it denounces direct action. In reality there was a palpable show of class solidarity between rank and file trade unionists, anti-cuts activists and black bloc-ers.

Over 200 arrests were reported and this number can be expected to grow as police review footage from the day and mount raids.

Fitwatch: Advice for those fearing arrest.

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Protests at the Liberal Democrat Conference Day 2 #ldconf

12-03-2011 09:23

Following the protests on the first day of the Liberal Democrat Spring Conference in Sheffield the second day saw 5,000 protesters gathering on Devonshire Green and marching to Barkers Pool outside the City Hall. Direct action against tax dodging corporations involved protest parties in Top Shop, Boots on Fargate and Nat West Bank on High Street [video].

A convergence space that was used on Friday night, a vacant shop next door to Debenhams on The Moor has now been opened as the 0742 Club and is appealing for people to get involved as residents [photos]. There are plans for art exhibitions, music nights, film screenings, workshops, talks and much more, there is a meeting to discuss future of the building on Tuesday at 5pm and and a workshop / talk on land reclaim, common law, and setting up eco communities on Friday, March 18th.

Articles: Reports from Sheffield under siege | Police intimidation of Liberal Democrat conference protest

Photos: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9

Audio: Audio from the Rally at the start of the March | Rally at Barkers Pool | Fringe Meeting: Who controls the internet?

Video: Sheffield Cut the Corporate Elite 12 March Demo Video

Tweets: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26

Features: Massive Protests Expected at the Liberal Democrats Spring Conference in Sheffield | Protests at the Liberal Democrat Conference Day 1

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Gateway 303: Police Disinformation on UK Indymedia

22-01-2011 22:35

In the wake of the outing of 4 undercover police infiltrators into the UK activist scene, SchNews, have broken a story about police posts to Indymedia. For over two years suspected police articles and comments have been tracked by filters that are triggered by matching IP addresses, the first comment tracked in this manner dates from August 2008 and the last from January 2011. The full lists of gateway 202 and 303 posts has now been published so activists can do their own analysis on the police posts. A feature article about the abuse has also been published by Birmingham Indymedia, this feature article, first started in in December 2009, has been the subject of a huge amount of internal discussion within UK Indymedia and has been one of the reasons behind the decision to fork the project. Sheffield Indymedia supports the use of anti-abuse features to track and remove disinformation from the site and long argued for the feature article exposing the state abuse to be published.

Articles: Full list of Gateway 303 and 202 posts to IMC UK | Advocating Domestic Extremism - Cops on Indymedia - An Exposé | INTER-NETCU: Government Agency Caught Infiltrating Activist Media Outlet | State infiltration and attempted disruption of activist websites | UK Police Agent Provocateurs Exposed | Nottingham Indymedia statement on recent events | IMC London Statement on the recent Schnews Article | Bristol Indymedia's position on IP logging

Other Press Coverage: SchNews: INTER-NETCU | SchNews: Gateway Gate: Straight from the Pig's Mouth | Slashdot: UK Authorities Accused of Inciting Illegal Protest

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Advocating Domestic Extremism - Cops on Indymedia - An Exposé

22-01-2011 16:02

On April 27th, 2010, a comment appeared on the Indymedia UK newswire entitled Don't use SPEAK as a model. The comment, on an article entitled New animal lab at Leicester; New nationwide campaign to start urged readers to respond to the campaign by "Model{ling} the campaign on a successful AR campaign such as Hillgrove cats or Darnley(sic) Oaks etc". Readers familiar with those campaigns will be aware that the campaigns are alleged to have included violent actions against individuals, including a a letter bomb in the Hillgrove Cats campaign, and the removal of Gladys Hammond from her grave.

Full article | 2 additions | 18 comments

Three undercover political Police unmasked as infiltrators into UK Anarchist, Anti-Fascist and Climate Justice movements

19-01-2011 00:51

Update: 4th Spy: “Jim Sutton” | 5th Spy: Peter Black | 6th Spy: Mark Cassidy | 7th Spy: Simon Wellings

“Mark Stone”, “Lynn Watson” and “Marco Jacobs”.

Three police officers all thought to work for The National Public Order Intelligence Unit (NPOIU), a political police unit with extensive links to large corporations, have been exposed by activists in the UK.

Two of them are known to have worked outside of UK police jurisdiction. All have actively taken part in illegal activity.

Feature Articles:
Cop Infiltrators: PC Mark Kennedy AKA "Mark (Flash) Stone", "Lyn Watson", "Mark (Marco) Jacobs" and PC Jim Boyling, "Jim Sutton" | Undercover police officer back in the spotlight | Guilty verdict in Ratcliffe trial | Mark Kennedy/Stone exposed as undercover cop

Newswire:
Mark Kenney: A detailed chronology of his activities | Kennedy Mania in the Mainstream Media | Officer 'B' revealed as Cardiff based 'Marco' Jacobs | Mark Kennedy: secret policeman's sideline as corporate spy | Post Flash Fallout, Lessons and Activist security | I can't forgive Mark Kennedy's betrayal of activists | IMPORTANT: A respectful request to all activists regarding Mark "Stone" | Undercover police officer back in the spotlight | Release the Kennedy Files | Ratcliffe: 2nd Court Case of 6 activist Collapses | Ratcliffe trial collapses! | An account of Marco Jacobs' time in Brighton | Cardiff Anarchist Network (CAN)on the infiltration by 'Marco'

Full article

Cop Infiltrators: PC Mark Kennedy AKA "Mark (Flash) Stone", "Lyn Watson", "Mark (Marco) Jacobs" and PC Jim Boyling, "Jim Sutton"

17-01-2011 22:53

On 21st October 2010 a statement posted to Indymedia revealed that Nottingham based activist "Mark Stone" was in fact PC Mark Kennedy and he was an "undercover police officer from 2000 to at least the end of 2009". This news didn't get picked up in a big way by the corporate press until a story was spun that the trail of the Ratcliffe 6 had collapsed because he had "gone native" and had considered testifying for the defense. The "gone native" story was probably police disinformation.

In an interview with the Mail on Sunday (16th January 2011), for which he was allegedly paid a six figure sum, Mark Kennedy stated that he had taped a planning meeting at which the defendants were present. The Mail goes on to say that the "covert recordings he supplied police proved undeniably that the six men facing trial last week for conspiracy to commit aggravated trespass were innocent". The same Mail article also contains the claim that Mark Kennedy, "knows of at least 15 other officers who infiltrated the ranks of green campaigners in the past decade and of four who remain undercover". The Guardian has reported that an activist who knew him has said "The trouble with Mark is you don't know what is real, he was an absolutely extraordinary liar trained by the British state."

The media frenzy has also led to three further undercover police officers being exposed, Officer A, "Lyn Watson" who was undercover in Leeds from 2004 till 2008, Officer B, "Mark (Marco) Jacobs", who appeared in Brighton in 2004 and then moved to Cardiff in 2005 and was active there till 2009 and PC Jim Boyling, "Jim Sutton". A summary of the activities of the 3 agent provocateurs has been put together and activists are asked to publish any better photos or information about their political activity to this thread.

Legal Statments: Bindmans comments on collapse of prosecution against 6 environmental campaigners at Nottingham Crown Court today | Bindmans seek disclosure of material of convicted power station activists | Statement from Mike Schwarz, Lawyer to the Defendants

Feature Articles: Three undercover political Police unmasked as infiltrators into UK Anarchist, Anti-Fascist and Climate Justice movements | Undercover police officer back in the spotlight | Guilty verdict in Ratcliffe trial | Mark Kennedy/Stone exposed as undercover cop

Newswire: Photos of undercover Cop Simon Wellings | The Guardian-Mark Kennedy: Confessions of an undercover cop | The Real Facts Regarding Mark Kennedy’s Infiltration of Saving Iceland | Mark Kenney: A detailed chronology of his activities | Exposed: police spy in Worthing | Mark Cassidy undercover 1995 - 2000 | 'Peter Black' undercover 1993 to 1997 | Jim Sutton - undercover cop in Reclaim the Streets | New Photos of Officer A "Lynn Watson" and Officer B "Mark Jacobs" | Jim Sutton - undercover cop in Reclaim the Streets | An account of Marco Jacobs' time in Brighton | Statement from Cardiff Anarchist Network (CAN) on the infiltration by Mark ‘Marc | Exposure of police spy in UK sheds light on covert operations | Officer "B" Marco Jacobs- further info and photos | Ratcliffe trial last two sentences | Did the CPS unlawfully authorise undercover work? | Three undercover political Police unmasked as infiltrators into UK Anarchist, Anti-Fascist and Climate Justice movements | Kennedy Mania in the Mainstream Media | Kennedy/Stone talks to Mail on Sunday | Three undercover political Police unmasked as infiltrators into UK Anarchist, Anti-Fascist and Climate Justice movements | Officer 'B' revealed as Cardiff based 'Marco' Jacobs | Mark Kennedy: secret policeman's sideline as corporate spy | Post Flash Fallout, Lessons and Activist security | The 'censored' Mark Kennedy article | I can't forgive Mark Kennedy's betrayal of activists | IMPORTANT: A respectful request to all activists regarding Mark "Stone" | Undercover police officer back in the spotlight | Release the Kennedy Files | Ratcliffe: 2nd Court Case of 6 activist Collapses | Ratcliffe trial collapses! | Judge sentences 18 of Ratcliffe defendants | Statement from the defendants | Ratcliffe Trial Day 15 – Jury says Guilty | Activists found guilty in Ratcliffe coal climate trial | Ratcliffe Trial Day 14 – Jury Still Retired | Ratcliffe Day 10 – Defence calls more Defendants | Ratcliffe Trial Day 9 – Defence Calls More Experts

Full article | 3 additions | 14 comments

Day X3 - MPs vote, students revolt

09-12-2010 09:46

Article last updated on 15 December.

Another student Day of Action was called for Thursday 9 December, the day that MPs voted on changes to higher education including an increase in tuition fees to up to £9,000 a year. Actions took place around Parliament, at schools, colleges and universities, including the many currently under occupation, and in town and city centres across the country. The protests in London were marred by police violence and featured an appearance by Charles and Camilla, who popped by on their way to the Royal Variety Show.

Read on...

Full article | 5 additions | 1 comment

Student Resistance Spreads

29-11-2010 14:36

Day X3 is Thursday 9 December, when Members of Parliament will vote on increasing tuition fees to as much as £9,000 per year for students in England. Protest at Parliament. Protest everywhere. For more information, read the whole article.

Edinburgh University Occupation is keeping a list of all occupations regularly updated. For more information about resistance to the cuts, see the anti cuts website.

Full article | 6 additions | 16 comments

UK-wide Student Resistance to the Cuts

24-11-2010 10:50

Update: A Second DayX has been called for 30th November. [ 2 | 3 | List of planned DayX2 actions ]

On Wednesday 24 November, tens of thousands of students walked out of their Schools, Colleges and Universities in protest against the cuts and austerity measures, whilst others occupied theirs.

Reports, updates, further action and advice for students in full article. Read on...

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SchNEWS 748: Hissy F.I.T

19-11-2010 04:07

Following the student riots in central London last week (see SchNEWS 747), on Monday evening the Met Police told the hosts of the FIT WATCH website to close it down on the grounds that it was “being used to undertake criminal activities”. In a letter from the police, the company Justhost.com were warned that the website was being used in an attempt “to pervert the course of justice”, demanding that it be taken down for twelve months. Before this could happen several other sites published the offending text from Fitwatch, which was advice to the students facing arrest after smashing up the Tory HQ. Fitwatch is now back online.

Newswire: Fitwatch website suspended for "attempting to pervert the course of justice" | Police Fitwatch Blog Censorship Attempt Laughed Off By Internet | "We're Back" - http://www.fitwatch.org.uk back online | The email that closed the fitwatch site | Last Fitwatch post before the site was suspended | FW Press Release:Police shut down activist website | http://fitwatch.org.uk has been suspended | Fitwatch website suspended for "attempting to pervert the course of justice" | FITWATCH SUSPENDED: Show Solidarity & Make Sure The Students Are Well Advised

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Mark Kennedy/Stone exposed as undercover cop

24-10-2010 09:44

Mark Kennedy AKA Mark Stone, who lived in Nottingham, has been exposed as having worked as an undercover police officer and this has been confirmed by Nottingham Indymedia and endorsed by other activist groups.

From 2000 to at least the end of 2009, Mark Kennedy was a well-known face in the local activist community and was actively involved in various environmental, animal rights, anti-capitalist and anti-fascist groups and campaigns.

Investigations into his identity revealed evidence that he has been a police officer and a face-to-face confession has confirmed this. The people involved in confronting Mark and getting his confession from him make clear that for security reasons no more information can be made public at this stage.

Activist Security Advice: Infiltrators, Informers and Grasses how, why and what to do if your group is targeted (PDF) from activistsecurity.org | Informants, Infiltrators & Provocateurs from security.resist.ca

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Police told to "behave" at Mayday Street Party

30-04-2009 10:52

Smash EDO's Mayday! Mayday! Street Party on 4th May looks set to be the next stop on the summer of rage. The mobilisation has been linked firmly to a new wave of resistance against global capital. A map has been published showing the location of EDO's key investors and business partners in Brighton. The list includes highstreet banks, BP, American Express and Mcdonalds. The message is clear, EDO cannot operate in a vacuum; it is propped up by the state and a network of global corporations.

Despite all this the police seem to be firmly on the back foot after the media backlash, triggered, by the killing of Ian Tomlinson, against police violence and repression at the G20. Sussex Police have been told to 'behave' by Chief Constable Richards who fears that “People’s confidence in policing has been shaken by things they have seen on their TVs and read in their newspapers". All this must be rather difficult for Sussex police as they have been gearing up for some serious repression of Smash EDO for quite sometime. Dick Barton, a Sussex Police officer seconded to the Home Office who was responsible for training Iraqi police recruits in Basra and Baghdad, has been given the dubious honour of coordinating investigations of 'crimes against EDO'. Past police tactics have included following 'organisers', supporting a dodgy injunction, engaging in ridiculous conspiracy cases, attempting to cultivate informers and attacking mass demonstrations

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G20 policing caused man's death: police coverup and media lies

02-04-2009 09:29

See Indymedia London for G20 reports, timelines and features.

On Wednesday 1st April during a demonstration against the G20 in London, thousands of protestors were trapped inside a police cordon (kettled) where they were baton charged and crushed by the police. Ian Tomlinson, who appears to have been a passer-by, died during this demonstration outside the Bank of England. The police started a coverup immediately, claiming police and medics had been prevented from attending to him, although eyewitnesses reported seeing Ian Tomlinson being attacked by police shortly before his death. The corporate media parroted these police lies even though eyewitness accounts contradicted this [statement | video]. Now a video has surfaced clearly showing Ian was viciously assaulted by riot police from behind and violently pushed to the ground. Riot police and members of the Forward Intelligence Team looked on as a protestor attended to him. Minutes after moving away, Mr. Tomlinson collapsed in a nearby alley and died shortly afterwards.

An assembly and a procession has been called for this Saturday 11th April assembling at Bethnal Green Police Station at 11:30 am to demand a public enquiry. A procession will move off at midday to arrive at the Bank of England around 1 pm. Another protest has also been called for Saturday 18th April at 12 noon in Redditch, the Home Secretary's constituency town. A demonstration calling for an end to state murders has been called in Edinburgh

Anyone with information they believe may help clarify the circumstances surrounding his death should, as soon as possible, write a full statement and contact the Climate Camp Legal Team: legal [at] climatecamp [dot] org [dot] uk

N.B. If you have previously left any important legal information on an answering machine or sent to a different email address and nobody got back to you, please try again using the email address above

Eyewitness accounts: Witnesses Statement: Death at G20 | Video: Interview with two Eyewitnesses of G20 Death

Reports: IMC - about the death | Death At The Hands Of Capital | G20 protests video shows perfect example of police tactics

Solidarity and Remembrance: New Zealand Solidarity Demo Against Police Brutality | Helsinki is supporting NO G20 | Vigil today ongoing at Bank of England | G20 Protest London - Memorial for the Dead | Photos - 2nd April memorial demo London

Full article | 7 additions | 27 comments

National Free Gaza demo 10.01.2009

10-01-2009 13:27

Two weeks into Israels latest war of aggression against the people of Palestine over 800 people are dead, over 257 of which are children. Around the world there have been militant protests and this weekend saw the second UK national demonstration since the invasion took place in London. Between 50,000 and 100,000 people took part in the march which went from London's Hyde Park to the Israeli embassy. Other demonstrations and actions took place across the country over the whole weekend.

See the whole timeline of events

Full article | 21 additions | 30 comments

Timeline - SmashEDO Carnival Against the Arms Trade

04-06-2008 10:47

The SmashEDO Carnival Against the Arms Trade was held in Brighton on Wednesday 4th June. Over 500 people marched from The Level to the EDO/ITT factory in Moulescombe. Police plans to contain everyone in a pen outside a neighbouring unit were foiled, and protestors managed to get to the factory. The factory gates were mysteriously opened, and a police van attempted to block the entrance to the EDO/ITT car park but protestors seized the opportunity to enter the car park and vent their rage against the arms company. A few arrests were reported.

Photos: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | Video [1] | More videos | FIT watch Video
Arrests updates: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7
Smash EDO Press Releases: 10 Still in Custody over EDO Protest | Death of Marie Vesco | All Arrested Released Without Charge | Post Carnival Message from Smash EDO

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FIT for what purpose?

28-07-2007 07:54

"Teams of 12 specially trained officers will form a Forward Intelligence Team (FIT) who, operating in uniform, will seek to build a "rapport" with "street activists" so that people "likely to provoke disorder can be identified early in an event"

The FIT first surfaced in the early 1990s, as part of the Public Order Intelligence Unit (CO11), a section of the Public Order Branch of the Metropolitan Police. They were initially targeted at football fans but were soon extended to cover a wide variety of political events, and their tactics have more recently been used in town centres as part of the "community policing" strategy. Sometimes they are deployed outside of the Metropolitan area, as at the G8 in Scotland for example, and most UK police forces now have officers trained in their methods.