Oxford Street Free Shop report
rikki | 21.12.2002 18:27
A small demonstration took place today on the NE side of Oxford Circus outside Top Shop. It took the form of a free shop and free food giveaway, scrutinised intently by Special Branch, the Forward Intelligence Team and dozens of cops.
Demonstrators had set up trestle tables and a clothes rail, to give away free stuff on Oxford Street's busiest shopping day before Christmas. They had a large "Free Shop" banner above the railings behind them, and another banner had been hung on scaffolding in the adjacent side street.
There were at most probably seventy to eighty protestors involved, handing out leaflets, free doughnuts and other goodies, and talking to passers-by about the reasons for the demonstration, which included solidarity with the Argentine protests these last couple of days as well as providing a much needed antidote to the consumerism and capitalism of Xmas.
Another small group of anti-war protestors passed by and continued down Oxford Street with a few placards, but the police seemed most intent on observing, photographing and surrounding the free shop activists. A Section 14 order was notified whereby apparently it would be an arrestable offence to try and move the demonstration elsewhere. This gave police an excuse to target and arrest any individuals leaving the demo - I heard that had happened to one activist. The SO3 photographer was getting through reels of film making sure he had nice shots of everyone involved. Police FIT officers sat on the stairs in the Top Shop offices above telephoning the photographer with instructions as to who to target. Special Branch officers stood around looking for all the world like football hooligans. The many other cops were lined up infront of one of the Top Shop entrances and on the pavement at each end of the shop adding hugely to the overall impact of the demonstration on passers-by. Many thanks for that!
Once again what we clearly see is the State reacting in force to the slightest threat of any alternative message, and the police are symbolically and visibly there to protect commerce. This overbearing presence will not be lost on many passers-by, and the small demo must be considered an absolute success on that basis.
Having said that, it was a shame that there were not more people involved - a Mayday style protest would have been great. There was also no samba band or tango lessons, although I did hear that the band were involved in other direct action elsewhere, so I hope that went well for them.
People were starting to drift away and numbers dwindling as it got darker and I left at around 4, so I hope there were no problems later.
There were at most probably seventy to eighty protestors involved, handing out leaflets, free doughnuts and other goodies, and talking to passers-by about the reasons for the demonstration, which included solidarity with the Argentine protests these last couple of days as well as providing a much needed antidote to the consumerism and capitalism of Xmas.
Another small group of anti-war protestors passed by and continued down Oxford Street with a few placards, but the police seemed most intent on observing, photographing and surrounding the free shop activists. A Section 14 order was notified whereby apparently it would be an arrestable offence to try and move the demonstration elsewhere. This gave police an excuse to target and arrest any individuals leaving the demo - I heard that had happened to one activist. The SO3 photographer was getting through reels of film making sure he had nice shots of everyone involved. Police FIT officers sat on the stairs in the Top Shop offices above telephoning the photographer with instructions as to who to target. Special Branch officers stood around looking for all the world like football hooligans. The many other cops were lined up infront of one of the Top Shop entrances and on the pavement at each end of the shop adding hugely to the overall impact of the demonstration on passers-by. Many thanks for that!
Once again what we clearly see is the State reacting in force to the slightest threat of any alternative message, and the police are symbolically and visibly there to protect commerce. This overbearing presence will not be lost on many passers-by, and the small demo must be considered an absolute success on that basis.
Having said that, it was a shame that there were not more people involved - a Mayday style protest would have been great. There was also no samba band or tango lessons, although I did hear that the band were involved in other direct action elsewhere, so I hope that went well for them.
People were starting to drift away and numbers dwindling as it got darker and I left at around 4, so I hope there were no problems later.
rikki
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