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Day One, an Overview

Ali Sharp | 06.07.2005 19:04 | G8 2005

Police were kept on their toes on the first day of the G8 Summit.

Reconnaisance helicopter
Reconnaisance helicopter

Clown, kid and cop
Clown, kid and cop

Weapons
Weapons

Kids Against Bad Things
Kids Against Bad Things


Day One, an Overview

The first day of the G8 summit in Gleneagles was disrupted at numerous points and police were, and continue to be, kept busy by autonomous actions in Edinburgh, around the 'gates of steel' surrounding the actual hotel, and on the motorways connecting the two. Meanwhile the last Live8 concert has begun at Murrayfield, further adding to the congested roads and general disorder.

Two Chinook helicopters were needed to rush in huge numbers of police reinforcements in full riot gear after roughly 300 activists broke away from the officially sanctioned demonstration in nearby Auchterarder and made for the perimeter fence surrounding the Gleneagles Hotel. Baton charges and police violence ensued. Latest reports say that the protesters have now been forced back to the edge of Auchterarder.

There are no reliable estimates of arrests, with reports varying from 15 to 83.
The main highways in central Scotland were initially blockaded by small groups of protesters, and later by police. Trains suffered the same fate; an action instigated by direct action by activists, followed by police closure.
Delegates were held up in the early morning in Edinburgh, and by the disruptions on motorways.

Meanwhile, the police - obstensibly claiming violence on Monday in Stirling - unilaterally decided at 10.30am to cancel the demonstration in Auchterarder organised weeks in advance by police, local authorities and the G8 Alternatives, a broad-based group of trade unions, church and environmental groups. The run-on effect of this decision to some extent defined the afternoon's activities, with a spontaneous march immediately setting off up Princes Street. Numbers at this march steadily grew, and other actions sprouting off this first one. Full report

Once the police decided to reinstate the legal protest, at around 4.30pm, events across the various fronts were already spirally out of their control. Despite a massive advantage in numbers and ability to move freely, it seems that the police had little idea what was going to happen next. It remains to be seen what will happen tonight in Edinburgh, with the massive numbers of people who have been travelling around the countryside making their way back to the capital and 60,000 people expected for the Live8 event.

As all this goes on, one Live8 organiser helpfully suggests that "these mad people should just leave this country immediately" and Bob Geldof admits that he is imagining the Live8 audience "dead".

Ali Sharp
- Homepage: http://alisharp.blogspot.com

Comments

Hide the following 5 comments

keep on keepin on

06.07.2005 19:31

And most of the cops have been away from home for some time now, working long shifts (yeah i know so has everyone else) bitten by midges (ditto), sleeping in dormitories, wearing heavy hot outfits, carrying bulky gear, getting the runaround town and country, getting sunburn, getting rained on, getting scared, cracking skulls, stadning for hours on end bored stiff guarding properties no one is interested in (borders bookstore in Glasgow is still being gaurded!), sitting in vans, getting piss taken by clowns and abused by locals etc etc.

Don't give up the fight.

adamant


Lethal Weapon

06.07.2005 19:49

Pic 3:
A fire extinguisher is a weapon now?

Mental note "Must hand the extinguisher in my kitchen into weapons amnesty first thing in the morning".

Yes better hurry, take those lethal weapons off the cops. Wonder what would happen if one of your protest posse set himself on fire during the burning of another countries flag?...woo hooo! So 1970s.

Come on guys the fun and the common sense is wearing off now...give it up and go home.

YAWWWWWWWWNNNNNNNNNNNNNN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Kevin


mate,

06.07.2005 21:25

that's not a fire extinguisher, it's a pepper-spray dispenser. they're quite nasty, certainly weapons, and illegal for international sale in most countries. besides being massively toxic and carcinogenic, pepper-spray can also cause instant abortions.

geo


scaremongering

08.07.2005 01:56

Get a grip, I think you will find that it is a fire extinguisher, next there will be photo's of their water bottles with some muppet claiming that they contain viral agents or some such tripe. Besides, if pepper spray was even issued, it would not be in canisters which would contain sufficient quantities to incapicate a small village.Oh, and by the way they are CFC free.

mick


Look Closer

10.07.2005 02:59

Have a closer look, yeah it is a fire extinguisher, clearly it is you can see it right next to the pepper spray and batons in the other pockets on their "utility belt".

Why the hell are you lot arguing about a fire extinguisher? Are you trying to deny that the police carry weapons? Everyone knows the most well armed gang in the uk are the police.

ps kevin the army doesnt count because they're not allowed to run about the uk using clubs and chemicals on peaceful protestors.

Tone
mail e-mail: averagejoe@munkiepus.com


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