WELL DONE TO EVERYONE THAT WAS THERE!!! There were 30 arrests in total at Menwith Hill following a really successful event. The driving rain, wind and frezzing temperatures did its best to dampen spirits but those that were there knew why they were there and nothing was going to stop us. We blocked 3 gates completely causing tailbacks for hours and massively disturbing the shift change-over. Menwith Hill felt compelled to issue a statement which is amazing since they never, ever speak to anyone. It's really rare to hear anything from that base and the fact that they felt they needed to issue a statement (calling us a small group of protesters on an "anti-american" demo!) shows how rattled they were. The first wave of protesters disrupted the base for several hours and, just as things were calming down, a second wave arrived and started causing disruption again.
Apologies to those that wanted music and speeches but the weather was too bad for a lot of what we'd organised and ,since the police arrested Dave Webb for driving a van with a PA system in it (and kept the keys to the van) we lost our PA and megaphones. We had arranged a PA system, toilets and the veggies van to be near the main gate with the police in advance but they broke all their promises on the day, which in the end was unnecessary 'cos we still blockaded them!
WERE YOU THERE? Some of the police behaved disgracefully despite our liaison work in advance to stop anything like that happening. There were definite cases of extreme excessive force and violence. Yorkshire CND wants as much information and pictures as possible from anyone that was there to collect evidence. Contact us if you saw anything. By the way, the police were heard arguing over walkie-talkies about how to deal with the event and one was heard saying that the protesters were better organised than they were!
This is just the first run. We want to hold Block the Base again and again, It's going to grow, it's going to disrupt and it's going to close the base. Well done to everyone. See you next time!
If anyone needs help or support following the event, contact Yorkshire CND - 01274 730795