(en) Britain, London, StopG8 Statement on Protests and Police Violence 11 June 2013 ~ CookingFood.Org

StopG8 held a ?Carnival Against Capitalism? in the West End of London today (11 June),
demonstrating against 100 murderous banks, corporations, ?dens of the rich? and other
hiding places of power in the run up to the G8 Summit.

The carnival went ahead despite extreme pre-emptive violence from the Metropolitan and
City Police, which caused a number of protesters to be injured. The police surrounded the
StopG8 Social Centre on Beak Street, W1 from 10am, and then broke in through the front
doors and from the roof later in the morning. At the demonstrations starting at 12 noon in
Piccadilly Circus and Oxford Circus, police snatch squads violently arrested and assaulted
more demonstrators.
Read more: http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2013/06/510411.html

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(Great cartoon by Martin Rowson
http://www.tribunecartoons.com/category/martin-rowson-political-cartoon/)

People present in the Beak Street building report that the police used tasers, chemical
sprays, and dogs, and hit unarmed people with shields and fists as they held their hands
in the air or covered their heads. We are currently gathering witness statements and will
release soon a detailed account of the attacks and injuries. We know that at least two
people received serious head injuries, and many more were beaten. We are still waiting on
reports from at least 30 people who were arrested.

?I could hear tasers going non stop for at least a minute,? said one witness, ?I never
heard anything like it in my life.?

A StopG8 spokesperson commented: ?The police claim that they raided Beak Street because
they suspected there were weapons on the building. In fact the only weapons were the
police tasers, batons, shields, chemicals, fists and dogs.?

Despite the violence from the police, the carnival went ahead with several hundred people
meeting from 12 noon, and more joining for a street party in Piccadilly Circus from
5.30pm. Demonstrations were held at the offices of world-leading polluter BP and
multinational arms dealer Lockheed Martin. The party later moved on Charing Cross police
station to support imprisoned comrades.

Today?s J11 Carnival was just the first event in a week of anti-capitalist actions in
London. Tomorrow a demonstration against militarism and capitalist violence will begin at
2pm outside the offices of BAE Systems (Stirling Square, 6 Carlton Gardens, SW1Y 5AD).

The world over, the cops do the same job, protecting the robbers. In Istanbul today they
sent in the cops with rubber bullets and teargas to clear Gezi Square. In London today
they came with batons and tasers to clear the Beak Street social centre. In Istanbul the
protests are continuing, as repression only brings out more people onto the street to
stand up against the brutal state. In London, police violence against our week of action
will only make us stronger. No fear! Solidarity!

Notes

For full details on the protest locations and the politics behind today?s StopG8 protests
see the J11 Map of the Capitalist West End here:
https://network23.org/stopg8/j11-carnival-against-capitalism/j11-map-of-the-capitalist-west-end/
StopG8
Homepage: https://network23.org/stopg8/

Updates on StopG8 website: http://network23.org/stopg8/

MEDIA

G8 protests in London: running battles in West End as riot police storm anarchist squat
- At least six people held after running battles with riot police in central London
Anarchists clashed with riot police in running battles through the West End during
protests against the G8 summit today.

Police made a series of arrests as they launched a massive crackdown on activists in a bid
to prevent rioting and serious disorder in central London.

Hundreds of officers in riot gear surrounded a squat in Soho being used by organisers as a
meeting point for anti-G8 protests planned for London this afternoon.

After a tense stand-off they used an angle grinder to break through the front door as a
police helicopter hovered overhead.

Inside officers had to smash their way through a barricade of wood and metal as protesters
on the roof shouted "freedom" before throwing items at officers below.

Some also sprayed an unknown liquid on the police.

In clashes in the West End protesters played what one described as ?high speed cat and
mouse? with squads of officers in high vis jackets and blue baseball caps chasing
activists around the streets.

A group of more than 50 anarchists dressed in black and with scarves covering their faces
clashed with police as the march left Oxford Circus.

Brandishing placards reading things like "No Borders no prisons no capitalism" and
"Welcome to Pig City" they were in a running battle with police.

Later several dozen protesters - believed to be so-called Black Bloc activists - brawled
with police on Piccadilly after an officer's hat was grabbed and thrown into the air.

Witnesses said the officer was dragged into the mob when he tried to retrieve it.

One protester, giving his name as Dave, 20, from Brighton, said: "The police response has
been colossal. There's hundreds of police here, we couldn't do anything serious even if we
tried."

Scotland Yard said there had been six arrests by around 2pm but the figure was expected to
rise significantly.

The massive police clampdown was launched as StopG8 protest leaders threatened to converge
on ?capitalist targets? including banks, hotels, businesses and hedge funds across
Westminster.

Police had intelligence that anarchists and troublemakers would attempt to hijack the
protests and bring mayhem to central London.

Thousands of police officers were on alert for trouble as the anti-capitalist protesters
threatened to target 100 addresses of "power and tyranny" in a demonstration against next
week?s G8 summit.

Hedge funds, private equity firms and banks have warned their staff in London to take
precautions in the event of disruption by activists.

Today?s ?Carnival against Capitalism? is part of a week of protest events planned in the
capital leading up to the summit in Northern Ireland on 17 and 18 June.

Police issued Section 60 and Section 60 AA orders for Westminster and the City of London
to allow officers to stop and search people at random if they believe violence or disorder
is about to take place as well as order people to remove face coverings.

More than a hundred officers wearing riot gear surrounded the protesters' headquarters in
Beak Street at around 10.30 this morning, leading to a siege of the premises though police
denied they were ?kettling? the protest.

Protesters climbed onto the roof of the building - a former police section house - wearing
balaclavas and took pictures. Office workers in nearby buildings leaned out to watch.

Inside around 200 people were making preparations for a march this afternoon after
occupying the space on Thursday. Many were making banners and placards for the protests.

In previous years similar protests by anti-globalisation groups and anarchists have led to
violent clashes with police, vandalism and buildings being temporarily occupied.

This time the Met were taking no chances with sources saying ?significant numbers? of
officers were on stand-by in case of trouble.

Protest leaders have published a map of 100 possible "capitalist" targets, including
banks, hedge funds, defence and mining firms, hotels and private companies.

The list also includes a section on what organisers describe as "dens of the rich" which
include nightclubs such as Annabel's, Mahiki, Boodle's and Tramp, shops such as Fortnum &
Mason, Bond Street and also Buckingham Palace.

StopG8 has called for supporters to meet at noon at two locations, Oxford Circus and
Piccadilly Circus.

The private equity firm Carlyle Group said it was increasing usual building security
measures and one large hedge fund, which asked not to be identified, said it had advised
its staff to be especially alert to the protests.

"We're clearly aware of it," it said. "Our guidance is to be careful and don't draw
attention to yourself.?

A huge security operation is taking place in Northern Ireland in advance of next week?s
summit at the Lough Erne golf resort which is due to be attended by world leaders
including Barack Obama and Vladimir Putin.

The Met said : ?There is an appropriate and proportionate policing plan in place that aims
to balance the rights of individuals to peaceful protest against minimising disruption to
Londoners going about their daily business. ?

Westminster councillor Ed Arger said: ?Our warden teams will be working with police to
manage the streets and we also have clean-up crews on standby.?

In April 2009 thousands of protesters clashed on the streets of the City of London for a
G20 summit and newspaper vendor Ian Tomlinson died after a confrontation with officers.

In 2005 there were hundreds of arrests during violent clashes in Scotland at the last G8
summit hosted by the UK.
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Anti-G8 anarchists vow more protests after 57 are held in clashes with police

A protest by anarchists in central London ended with a total of 57 arrests, police said.

Hundreds of riot police were deployed throughout central London yesterday and in Soho
officers dramatically forced their way into a building occupied by demonstrators.

Television footage showed officers in climbing gear trying to secure the roof of the
former police site in Beak Street, bundling to the ground a protester who appeared to
attempt to jump from the rooftop.

In Piccadilly there was a stand-off between protesters and police as officers blocked
access to Fortnum & Mason, which was targeted during protests against Government cuts in 2011.

Around two dozen protesters gathered outside the BP headquarters in St James's Square amid
a heavy police presence.

Metropolitan Police commander Neil Basu said around 1,200 officers had been involved in
Operation Hemingway, which he described as a "proportionate" response to the protests.

He said: "We had some protests and disorder in London but we were anticipating that there
would be protests this week.

"I think we have behaved proportionately and we have used the tactics that we know have
been effective in the past.

"What we want to do is help people protest peacefully and within the bounds of the law. It
is only when people step outside of that that police have to use their powers to prevent
crime and disorder - that's what the public pays us for."

After the protests, activists pledged further action.

Speaking at the Whitechapel squat one activist ? who refused to be named - said: ?We have
some people staying here tonight and we are getting ready for more action as the week goes on.

Meanwhile another protester, Dirk, a German who lives in London, said: ?We were badly hit
by the police raid this morning.

?We had planned to hold an all-day peaceful carnival to show our opposition to the G8
summit but when police arrived this morning they literally took everything.

?We have no banners and no speakers ? but we hope to reorganise for action later this week?.

The group, which includes protesters from across the EU, now plan to hold a similar march
in Canary Wharf on Friday along with similar protests planned for the capital over the
weekend.

The anarchists also claim they are planning to squat a number of other empty buildings
across the capital in a bid to outfox police.

One anarchist ? known as Sam ? said: ?We are already rebuilding and we hope to attract 10
times as many people here for our other marches.

?We will definitely have at least one more building within the next few hours and who
knows after that.

?We have big plans for the coming days.?