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Anti ID Card Protesters Arrested

Ward | 03.12.2008 08:38 | Sheffield

POLICE made a dozen arrests after a group of anarchists staged a protest at the Home Office buildings in Sheffield.

Members of the Anarchists’ Federation arrived at Vulcan House in Millsands on the Riverside in Sheffield city centre at around 8.30am to mount a protest against the Government’s ID card scheme.

After being refused entry by security staff many of the protesters chained themselves to the building forcing hundreds of staff to enter via the emergency exits.

The protesters were warned by police that they would be arrested if they did not move on.

By 11.30am officers had cleared the area after making 12 arrests for alleged aggravated trespass.

Those arrested were taken into custody and spent the rest of the day being questioned.

Student Will Wright who acts as a spokesperson for the Anarchists Federation said: “The demonstration was against the national rolling out of ID cards for non-EU nationals as well as against ID cards in general.

“The police treated us very fairly and warned us that anyone who failed to move on would be arrested.”

http://rinf.com/alt-news/contributions/anti-id-card-protesters-arrested/4967/

Ward

Additions

Correction:

03.12.2008 10:24

*Activists from around Yorkshire were involved in this.

*Noone was refused entry as noone was trying to enter the building anyway. (it was shut at that time so of course noone would be allowed in)

*It wasn't the emergency exits, it was the public entrance and the two staff entrances at the front of the building (two D-locked to the public entrance, three to the barriers either side of one of the staff entrances with both the staff entrances locked around the handles)

*11 people were arrested, not 12.

*By 8pm everyone had been released with a caution.

*Despite the fact you wrote down the 'spokesperson's' name, you actually got it wrong anyway.

Defy ID

sorry...

03.12.2008 10:38

"It wasn't the emergency exits,* it was the public entrance and the two staff entrances at the front of the building (two D-locked to the public entrance, three to the barriers either side of one of the staff entrances with both the staff entrances locked around the handles)"

* the staff were able to get in through one of the many other staff entrances to the building, a huge building like that has more than one staff entrance.

Members of the public couldn't get in as the doors blocked were the ones with all the security checks and obviously the Home Office couldn't have members of the public running about inside with searching through all their things.

Defy ID

Comments

Hide the following 5 comments

Anarchist federation

03.12.2008 09:31

Did you get permission to use that persons name in your rushed news article and you forgot to mention the other anti/defy id groups that were also there.

Muppet

legal stuff

03.12.2008 09:44

someone should have a word with the af's spokesman Student Will Wright as well. He's basically admitted one of the conditions in proving aggravated trespass.

If any of the people arrested were actually charged they'd be fucked.

Anarchist Lawlord

Eek.

03.12.2008 12:12

With regards to the group thing I said that most of us are from the Anarchist Federation but there are people from groups around Yorkshire here today. If he had left it as is it would have been accurate but I guess journalists suck at subtlety or proper accuracy :/

With regards to the description, he composited the fact that I said the police were treating us fairly (i.e. were not completely nobs) with a separate statement that they asked us to move on. Nonetheless I admit I fucked up on that bit and apologise.

StudentWW

nice action Will! ignore the whingers

03.12.2008 21:04

Some people will always criticize, don't worry about them.

Sounds like a great action, you got off you butt and did something, which is a lot more than most of us did.

anon

Stuff the law

04.12.2008 01:04

"someone should have a word with the af's spokesman Student Will Wright as well. He's basically admitted one of the conditions in proving aggravated trespass.

If any of the people arrested were actually charged they'd be fucked."

Considering that a) all of the people arrested accepted police cautions, which involves an admission of guilt, and b) the police filmed themselves telling us to move on or we'd be arrested, I don't think Student Will Wright fucked up too badly there. Also, just to stress that we don't have spokesmen, or even spokeswomen, we just have people who end up not getting arrested on the day and so get stuck with the job of talking to journalists (and then get misquoted for their pains).

Sheff AFer

UK Indymedia