UK Smash EDO Feature Archive
Anti-Arms Protesters Shut ITT
15-10-2008 10:12
A mass protest against Brighton-based arms manufacturers EDO MBM/ITT took place on 15 October, 2008. Organised by the Smash EDO campaign, the event was called Shut ITT! and was the third such demonstration this year. Last June, Brighton saw the Carnival Against the Arms Trade, organised by Smash EDO too.
As the 400-strong march was prevented by police from reaching the EDO factory, 40 bottles of red paint were thrown over the back fence by a group of protesters who split off. The 'bomb factory' was reportedly shut down for the day. At least 10 people were arrested and some injured from police violence, including a photographer.
Reports: Full timeline | Press releases: 1 | 2 | Photos: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 |5 |6
More: FITwatchers perspective | Message from Smash EDO
Brighton bomb factory clash ahead
08-10-2008 08:26
A mass demo against the South Coast city's weapons factory, EDO-MBM/ITT, is being staged and after the success of the last one, cops are thought to be planning a hardline approach.
Since 2001 over a million people have been killed worldwide by the US-UK War of Terror. EDO MBM/ITT supply weapons components for the US-UK war machine. Smash EDO has been campaigning for four and a half years to close down EDO.
The movement is growing - in June this year over 600 people came from around the country to the ‘Carnival Against the Arms Trade’. The Carnival managed to reach the Brighton bomb factory despite police attempts to stop it!
Shut ITT!
07-10-2008 14:16
Every bomb that is dropped and every bullet that is fired in the name of this war of terror has to be made somewhere and wherever that is it can be resisted...
Since 2001 over a million people have been killed worldwide by the US-UK War of Terror. EDO MBM/ITT supply weapons components for the US-UK war machine. Smash EDO has been campaigning for four and a half years to close down EDO.
The movement against EDO MBM/ITT is growing, in June this year over 600 people came from around the country to the ‘Carnival Against the Arms Trade’. The Carnival managed to reach the Brighton bomb factory despite police attempts to corral the march
On October 15th Smash EDO are planning another mass demonstration against the Brighton bomb builders [Press Release]
Resources: Webpage for the Shut ITT Demonstration - Info on accomodation and transport | Open Letter to Sussex Police| Campaigners say Shut ITT | More Info about the Smash EDO Campaign (pdf) | Info about the Merger with ITT (pdf)
Newswire: Sussex Police set up CCTV at Falmer Station for Shut ITT demo | Fitwatch at EDO | Links: Smash EDO | EDO MBM | Smash EDO Indymedia Topic Page| SchNEWS
Previous features: Smash EDO Carnival Against the Arm Trade - Timeline | Carnival Against the Arms Trade | Marie Vesco RIP |On the Verge - The Film They Tried to Ban |Singers Arrested Outside Arms Factory | Smash EDO Action Camp: Shut down the Brighton bomb builders | Lebanon War protesters - Not Guilty! | EDO CORP: 2006 Alternative Report | 2007 Is The Year To Shut EDO Down | EDO MBM Injunction crumbles | EDO MBM desperate to stop protests as resistance increases | Smash EDO Take On The Law | Harassment Law Used Against Anti-War Campaigners | Campaign to Smash Edo | Arms company shut down
Full article | 3 additions | 2 comments
Marie Vesco RIP
08-06-2008 18:24
Marie Vesco was killed by a car on Wednesday 4th June while cycling to Brighton. Active in various London social centres, Whitechapel and Brixton Food Not Bombs, she now had plans to open a new social centre.
Marie was part of a group of twelve cyclists who left Brixton in the early hours of the morning to join the Smash EDO demo. They were on the A23 by Burgess Hill when an impatient gas guzzling imbecile swerved across two lanes straight into Marie, then another car hit her. She died instantly, there was nothing her friends could have done. The driver of the second car got straight on his phone as soon as he came to a halt - not for an ambulance but to call his lawyer. He then started pushing Marie's mates around. One driver has been arrested.
Newswire: Marie Vesco RIP | Smash EDO Press Release - Death of Marie Vesco
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
Full article | 1 addition | 3 comments
Smash EDO Carnival Against the Arms Trade
28-05-2008 22:36
Every bomb that is dropped and every bullet that is fired in the name of this war of terror has to be made somewhere and wherever that is it can be resisted...
On the 4th June, Smash EDO, a campaign group aiming to shut down EDO MBM, a Brighton based arms manufacturer, will be holding a Carnival Against the Arms Trade aiming to highlight the level of public opposition to the factory and be an oppurtunity to take creative direct action against the arms trade.
The Carnival will include live music, a critical mass and with a unifying theme of red. Smash EDO are calling for activists to come from around the country to join the carnival and help close down EDO.
Resources: Flyer for the Critical Mass | Webpage for the carnival - Info on accomodation and transport | Press Release for the Carnival | More Info about the Smash EDO Campaign (pdf) | Info about the Merger with ITT (pdf)
Links: Smash EDO | EDO MBM | Smash EDO Indymedia topic page
Previous features: On the Verge - The Film They Tried to Ban |Singers Arrested Outside Arms Factory | Smash EDO Action Camp: Shut down the Brighton bomb builders | Lebanon War protesters - Not Guilty! | EDO CORP: 2006 Alternative Report | 2007 Is The Year To Shut EDO Down | EDO MBM Injunction crumbles | EDO MBM desperate to stop protests as resistance increases | Smash EDO Take On The Law | Harassment Law Used Against Anti-War Campaigners | Campaign to Smash Edo | Arms company shut down
Full article | 3 additions | 27 comments
On the Verge - The Film They Tried to Ban
23-03-2008 19:01
Police have intervened across the country to censor 'On the Verge' an independent documentary about the Smash EDO campaign to shut down the Brighton's weapons manufacturer EDO MBM. So far establishments in Southampton, Chichester, Bath and Oxford as well as Brighton have come under police pressure to cancel film showings. In Brighton police intervened to prevent a showing at the Duke of York's Cinema, just one hour prior to the scheduled premiere.
Using activist, police and CCTV footage plus interviews with those involved in the campaign, 'On The Verge' tells the story of one of the most persistent and imaginative campaigns to emerge out of the UK's anti-war movement and direct action scene. See trailers of the film here(mpg) and here (wmv). A torrent file of the film has also been created. To download a copy of the film and to know how to use bittorrent click here.
Spokesman for the production company SchMovies, Steven Bishop said "I am extremely disappointed but not entirely surprised by the police's action. There may be issues with certification but as we're not charging for entry this shouldn't be an issue. If the police really had problems over the certificate they could have approached us at a much earlier stage. Our film although focussing mainly on the rights and wrongs of protest shows a number of examples of questionable police behaviour – Perhaps this is why they left their move so late"
Meanwhile the "On the Verge" Screening Tour continues. Confirmed upcoming dates are:
24th March - Oxford. OARC
25th March - Bath. Friends' Meeting Place
18th April - Glasgow. - the Carnival Arts Center
19th April - Aberdeen. - Aberdeen University
21st April - London. - London Action Resource Center Tour's page for the latest information on screenings.
Related Links: SchNEWS report | SchNEWS podcast | Other SchMOVIES about Smash EDO campaign | SchNEWS website
Singers Arrested Outside Arms Factory.
10-10-2007 21:03
5 people were arrested after singing 'We Are the Champions' at a karaoke themed demo at EDO MBM's Brighton arms factory. The police reacted to the cringe-worthy songs by arresting some demonstrators under noise byelaws and then imposing conditions to prevent the warmongers hearing an encore. Those who didn't move along were nicked, while the sour-faced managing director looked on. | Video
This major police response to a bit of a sing-song follows a successful blockade of the factory last week. All doors into the building were glued shut and two people locked themselves to the front doors with D-locks. This forced the managing director to smash his own window to get in and delayed the manufacture of deadly bomb components, which loses the company both profit and popularity with clients. | Video | Update: 5 Protestors have been charged with 'Conspiracy to cause Criminal Damage', and face a jury trial.
As EDO's profits slide, the campaign against them is building. Campaigners are looking forward to the traditionally lively Haloween demo on the 31st October, when the ghosts of EDO' s victims (and a host of weird and wonderful beings) come to haunt them.
smashEDO protestors have observed that the police are using increasingly repressive measures to deal with the protests, and one compared police behaviour that was common prior to the attempt to injuct protests in 2005. At the hearings, it became apparent that the police had urged EDO MBM to seek the injunction. The case collapsed, costing EDO MBM much money. Since then the company's fortunes have taken a number of knocks. Campaigners have vowed to keep up the pressure until the arm's manufacturer closes the factory.
Links:
Peace Camp 2005 | Peace Camp 2007 | Student Blockade | Campaigners breach security | Court Victory for Right to Protest |
Full article | 2 additions | 2 comments
Smash EDO Action Camp: Shut down the Brighton bomb builders
26-08-2007 17:32
From 27 to 30 August, Smash EDO held an action camp in the Wild Park, close to Mouslecoomb Station in Brighton. The camp aimed to be a time to hold creative direct actions against the arms trade and a forum to discuss the anti-arms trade movement, but on Tuesday afternoon police forcibly moved in and removed the camp's infrastructure using a nineteenth century by-law. Despite police repression most campers remained put, new provisions were brought in, and activists maintained the camp whilst carrying out a series of daily actions:
Timeline of Events:
Monday 27th: Opening and vigil (pix)
Tuesday 28th Morning: Rooftop protest | Afternoon: Police threaten camp | Tents standoff at smashEDO Camp | Camp still resisting and actions will continue! | Bikes against bomb factories
Wednesday 29th: Camp continues despite police repression | Demo at EDO 8am [Report] | Action Update at 6pm
Thursday 30th: Actions continue as camp draws to a close
Friday 31st: Final action from the camp outside EDO MBM in Moulescombe
Reports Still Coming In: Barricade Building and Attempt to Breach EDO's Security
Press Releases: Anti Arms Trade Campaigner Plan Action Camp | Smash EDO Camp Continues Despite Police Eviction Attempt
Details of the camp | Directions to the camp
Schnews Report: Tents Stand Off
Two Days of Action Against the Arms Trade
07-08-2007 17:18
Following a call-out from Disarm DSEi, a wave of autonomous actions against the arms trade took place around the UK over the weekend of 28-30 July, 2007. Actions included a protest at Heckler & Koch's small arms factory in Nottingham; visits to arms manufacturer Raytheon and mercenary company Erinys in London and to arms factory EDO MBM in Brighton; an Anti-DSEi stall in Brick Lane, East London, to raise funds for the Space Hijackers to 'buy a tank'; and protests at the MOD Defence Export Services Organisation and the adjacent armed forces recruitment centre.
But this is just the beginning; activists are flexing their muscles ready to take on the world's largest arms fair when it returns to the Excel Centre in East London on 11th-14th September. For further information, see www.dsei.org.
Links: Disarm DSEi | Space Hijackers | Smash EDO | CAAT | London CAAT
EDO CORP: 2006 Alternative Report
21-02-2007 17:45
On Thursday 22nd February the EDO Corporation released their report on the fourth quarter of 2006. The Corporation, of which the embattled Brighton based arms dealers EDO MBM are a wholly owned trading unit, has announced that it is operating below targets, (See EDO's Fourth Quarter Report)
Below is an 'Alternative Report' from the Smash EDO campaign. Brighton based EDO MBM has been the target of sustained protest and direct action since 2003. On Friday 16th Feb a group of protesters occupied EDO's car park and foyer blowing claxon horns and scattering photos of the carnage in Iraq. This was the second such action in the last month ( reports: (1) | (2) ). On Monday 19th Feb 8 students from Sussex University locked themselves to EDO's fence and gates delaying the opening of the factory and preventing deliveries ( see: Press Release | Photo Report ). On Wednesday 21st Feb protesters held a funeral procession and vigil for the victims of the US bombing of Somalia at the factory ( see: Press Release | Report ).
2007 Is The Year To Shut EDO Down
25-01-2007 11:54
On Tuesday 15 masked activists entered the car park and loading bay of EDO MBM, Brighton warmongers manufacturing arms for the UK, US and Israel blowing claxon horns and sounding sirens to signify that the Smash EDO campaign is not going away until EDO closes down 1 | .
View the video of the anonymous demo here .
Smash EDO plan to step up their campaign this year with weekly noise demonstrations at the factory, phone blockades, direct action and a week long protest camp this August. 2007 is the year to close EDO down.
EDO MBM Injunction crumbles
25-02-2006 13:21
Campaigners against Brighton arms manufacturers EDO MBM, have made progress in their year-long battle against the company's attempt to silence them with an injunction under the Protection from Harassment Act,1997. At a High Court hearing on Monday 13th february, EDO MBM agreed to drop the provisions of the temporary injunction which affected any individual who wished to protest against the company. Restrictions included a prohibition on filming by protestors, and a designated protest area which was a grass verge across the road from the Moulescombe factory. The verge backed onto a steep drop to a railway line. Over 30 arrests have taken place in the last two years as EDO MBM tried to quell protests. 2 protestors spent a week each on remand in Lewes prison for alleged breach of the injunction. EDO MBM's failure to impose a blanket injunction represents a major victory for the right to protest. The matter is yet to be concluded for 2 campaigners who have declined to sign undertakings, and are determined to challenge the whole manner in which EDO MBM, their lawyer and Sussex police acted together to bring the proceedings.
Plans are in place for a 'Victory demonstration' outside the factory on Wednesday March 1st from 4-6pm, and protestors have vowed to carry on with their campaign against the company which makes bomb release mechanisms and is involved in the manufacture of the Hellfire missile.
Previous Indymedia Coverage:
Schnews Coverage | CIA 3 case dismissed | Bombers Drop Boss | Rooftop three acquitted | Judge tells Lawyer to get Lawyer |
From the smashedo website:
Attorney General intervenes in EDO injunction | Peace Campaigner Remanded for Injunction Breach | Peace Campaigners Demand Police Arrest Local War Criminal | Protesters vow to Fight InjunctionSmashEDO Peace Camp
26-08-2005 12:07
Smash EDO recently held a week long peace camp in the Wild Park behind EDO MBM in Brighton. The Peace Camp came just months after EDO MBM sought a civil injunction under the Protection from Harassment Act aimed to limit protest outside the factory. Smash EDO are a grassroots campaign group who have been trying to shut down Brighton arms manufacturers EDO MBM for over 18 months. EDO MBM manufacture weapons for the US/UK's war on Iraq and to the IDF for their oppression of the Palestinians.
EDO MBM desperate to stop protests as resistance increases
08-08-2005 15:08
Brighton-based arms manufacturer EDO are producing electrical weapons components for the US, UK and Israeli militaries. For over a year, the Smash EDO campaign has been trying to shut them down by direct protest at their premises. Recently, EDO MBM have applied for a High Court injunction to stop all protest at their premises except at designated times. The Smash EDO campaign regards this as a direct attack on freedom of expression and calls for a week-long protest camp, starting with a peace march in Brighton [report].
Smash EDO Take On The Law
15-06-2005 13:17
Update: A legal observer was arrested on the 16th , and has now been released on bail pending a pre-trial review at Brighton Magistrates court on Thursday 23rd June.
In a spectacular march through Brighton on Saturday June 11th, 150-200 protestors showed that they would not be intimidated by the violence meted out at the May 31 Big Demo at EDO MBM by Sussex police.
After an open mic event on The Level where several protestors spoke out against EDO MBM as well as the draconian Harassment Act interim Injunction brought by the company against peaceful protestors outside their factory, and Sussex Police’s brutality trying to enforce it, the march began.
EDO activists in Court again.
28-04-2005 17:16
After their High Court appearance earlier in the month 1, and the adjournment then, 10 EDO activists where again at the High Court on Friday the 22nd of April to have their case heard. Representatives of the Arms Manufacturer EDO/MBM technologies have sought an injunction to effectively prevent protests outside their premises in Brighton. The proposed injunction would prevent any artificial noise or amplification devices from being in the “exclusion zone”. This effectively amounts to a private corporation buying its own private martial laws enforceable by the police.Harassment Law Used Against Anti-War Campaigners
01-04-2005 19:07
On 25th March, Smash Edo, Bombs out of Brighton and 14 individuals were issued with intended injunctions under the 1997 Harassment Act, to be heard in the High Court on April 14th.
The law was first introduced to protect people from stalkers but was then used against anti-vivisection groups.. This is the first time it has been used against an anti-war or anti-arms trade group.
“SmashEdo” aims to shut down EDO MBM using awareness-raising and Non-Violent Direct Action tactics.”
Campaign to Smash Edo
15-01-2005 16:56
Smash Edo is a group of people campaigning to remove EDO MBM Technology Ltd from Brighton. EDO MBM is a subsidary of the multinational arms manufacturing company, EDO Corporation. At EDO MBM's factory on Home Farm Road, Moulescoombe, they are manufacturing bomb racks, release clips, arming mechanisms and targeting equipment; all of which has been used in the recent Iraq invasion. The campaign wants to shut down EDO MBM through raising awareness and direct action (Read more).
The campaign has been active for some time now. From Sunday 29th August to Thursday 2nd September there was a 5 day protest camp, with daily protests and a non violent direct action day. See reports [1] [2]. Several actions have taken place: Reports: [1] [2], and [Indymedia UK feature]. Recently there was a public meeting, and every thurday at 4.00 there is a Bring The Noise Demo, at Edo factory, Home Farm Road, off Lewes Rd. There have been several arrests, and in December 2004 six activists were fined a total of £1500 to be paid by the end of January. Currently several other activists are on trial for aggravated trespass - for a roof occupation. See [Press release] [Report]
Arms company shut down
24-05-2004 03:40
Early in the morning on Thursday the 20th May 2004, around 20 anti-arms trade activists arrived at the premises of EDO MBM Technology in Brighton. EDO MBM manufacture bomb and missile release components for military aircraft; they are on record as being “proud” to support the ongoing occupation of Iraq.
A 'cage' was set up blocking the access road and banners were hung, one offering a potential corporate slogan: 'Every Death an Opportunity'. Shortly afterwards, more activists ‘appeared’ on the roof of the factory, while others handed out leaflets explaining what must have seemed an interesting intervention in the workers mundane trudge to work. All but the suited senior management types turned around and had the day off.
report | report + pictures | Trident Ploughshares report on citizens weapons inspection (Northwood HQ) | Protest Planned at Farnborough International July 2004
