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tesco occupation pics missing from earlier post (2of2)

rikki | 01.05.2005 23:28 | Indymedia

dunno what happened to the pics before, but here they are in two sets now

nuff police
nuff police

arrestee on the ground
arrestee on the ground

regrouping and banner in the car park
regrouping and banner in the car park

reclaim the streets
reclaim the streets

getting surrounded
getting surrounded

so many cops
so many cops

result of police brutality
result of police brutality

sambasistas keeping it fluffy
sambasistas keeping it fluffy

corral in full swing
corral in full swing

keep back
keep back

pushing the bystanders back
pushing the bystanders back

young woman gets arrested
young woman gets arrested

no sense of humour here
no sense of humour here

another arrest
another arrest

escorted past the town hall
escorted past the town hall

police escort - jsut a few of the vans
police escort - jsut a few of the vans

all for about 70 protesters
all for about 70 protesters

stopping the traffic on the way to london fields
stopping the traffic on the way to london fields


Today's Mayday stunt was widely advertised by the 'precarity' group in posters and leaflets, but through the use of last minute texting and tight security over the project, the authorities were caught on the hop when activists entered the large Tesco store on Morning Lane in Hackney this afternoon. Groups that met in different places managed to converge on the store, and occupied it for at least ten minutes before any police arrived.

Shoppers and staff reacted very well to the stunt, as a large banner was unfurled "YOU HAVE NOTHING TO LOSE BUT YOUR CHAINSTORES". A protester with megaphone urged shoppers to take back something from Tesco's (who announced £2 billion profits recently).

The pink sambaistas entered the store openly as a group, and started playing before security even noticed them. The manager asked them to leave, without success, and a scarily large security guy tried to block their progress, but the vibe was so good, that even he gave up and even jiggled a little. Meanwhile other activists had arrived and tried to unfurl the banner at the checkouts. At first, the security tried to stop them and there was a bit of scuffling, but as two community support officers and two police arrived the focus was on the band and the banner got unfurled.

After around fifteen minutes, the cavalry arrived (bigtime!!!). F.I.T. officers soon arrived with police photographers and the police heavies flooded in. Bystanders expressed shock and outrage at the over the top and heavy handed police tactics. Protesters comprised over around twenty sambaistas, a few dancers, and maybe another twenty or thirty activists involved. Seven vanloads of police stormed in and pushed the pink clad anti-capitalists out of the shop. I witnessed two quite violent arrests, with one person being pushed face down onto the ground. The protesters maintained their calm and non-violent tactics, regrouped in the carpark, held up the long banner, and danced awhile handing out leaflets before taking to the streets.

As they danced along Morning Lane, even more police reinforcements arrived. I counted twenty four vans, plus some ancillary vehicles including three top brass rangerovers. Two police photographers and the helicopter overhead witnessed the sight of all these cops pushing the (maximum 50) activists onto the pavement quite violently and corraling them in time-honoured fashion. Some people were pushed into the corral, and any remaining onlookers were kept away by further police lines. Shocked Hackneyites couldn't believe the over-reaction to what they saw as a harmless protest on a sunny afternoon.

As one small group was pushed away, there were further arrests.

The band were held in a small area on the pavement for a couple of hours. Fortunately, someone appeared on the roof of the 'SCOPE' shop and threw some bottles of water down to the band.

After some negotiation, it was agreed they would be escorted to London Fields, and a massive police operation ensued to keep the small number of protesters enclosed as they did this. The lines of vans and huge numbers of cops effectively brought all local roads to a standstill.

On the way to the park and at the park, minor scuffles broke out, and further arrests were made, bringing the total for the day to ten.

rikki

Comments

Hide the following 2 comments

police scum

02.05.2005 09:20

Large scale events like these are great for gaining publicity for the cause but hasn't it got to the stage with police intelligence that it is becoming increasingly difficult for them to achieve a huge amount in terms of more direct action. I mean this year the texting probably helping to delay the filth's arrival a little bit but from your report it didn't take them that long to turn up. Wouldn't it be interesting for one major action if, rather than doing things en-masse resulting in the usual coralling, if people split up into much smaller splinter groups of maybe two, three or four to carry out direct action. With only those individuals knowing what action they were going to take it would take away the need for texting, etc on the day which invariably is going to end up pretty quickly in the hands of the law.

Nightowl


Tesco pecariousness issues covered on this site

08.05.2005 09:47

Worth a look- lots of stuff on Tesco's - exposes - including the USDAW deals with Tesco management

Ted


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