Rob was a predictably tedious anarchist, with tediously predictable views. Standing beneath a hanged effigy of Sir Fred Goodwin, he explained how the police work. "They aren't here for us, they're here for the bankers," he told me. "But mainly, they are here for a fight." Having just watched protesters smash up the Royal Bank of Scotland, I was not in the mood. Not only was Rob wrong, I told him, he was the worst kind of wrong -- a clichéd wrong. Seven hours later -- seven hours of detention without food or water -- I had come to believe that I was the one who had been naive.
Having just watched protesters smash up the Royal Bank of Scotland, I was not in the mood. Not only was Rob wrong, I told him, he was the worst kind of wrong -- a clichéd wrong. Seven hours later -- seven hours of detention without food or water -- I had come to believe that I was the one who had been naive.
Wednesday's police operation against G20 protesters was, by most accounts, a success. Minimal violence, stoical police, and London back up and running a few hours later. But there is another story. It is the story of how a largely peaceful protest that happily coexisted with a Starbucks and an HSBC -- each just one brick arc from anti-capitalist destruction -- eventually turned violent. Most of all, it is the story of how the police wilfully criminalised and alienated 4,000 innocent people.
[Murdoch Alert]
That's when things cold get very hairy. If people have nothing to gain with non-violent resistance cos it's treated the same as terrorism then the govt and the police have lost. I'm really not sure that's where they want to go, yet it's exactly where they're headed. keep to the Fen Causeway
Now where's the fun in that! - Megatron
