FIT policing at the Gaza demo (Sat 3rd Jan)
Fighting Fit | 09.01.2009 19:13 | Palestine | Repression | Social Struggles
Public order cops were aggressive from the start too. The one pictured above posed delightfully for a shot, and even introduced himself - CO 5484 Churchman from CO11 (his friends call him Bob). But then he appeared to have a sudden change of heart. Aggressively he grabbed hold of my camera phone and tried to pull it out of my hands. ‘You are going to delete that’ he shouted in my face. ‘You can’t photograph us’. After a brief stand-off in which I refused to let go of my camera, he gave up and turned his attention to bullying someone else.
He and his CO11 colleagues were clearly in a similar frame of mind when they tried to block in the march to the Israeli embassy at Hyde Park Corner underpass. Eyewitness accounts have emerged that police baton charged protesters on a march that had been, until then, entirely peaceful.
It seemed inevitable that there would be confrontation outside the Israeli Embassy, and so there was. Edgy and wound-up TSG sought to protect a small bit of Israel in London, while the Israeli military was pounding Gaza with rockets and artillery. The tightly penned in crowd eventually broke throught the crowd control barrier, with bits of it being returned to the police much faster than they may have wanted. FIT evidence gatherers found a roof balcony from which to film and photograph unhindered the angry crowd below, and powerful police and helicopter floodlights lit up the scene. Yet most of the more militant protaganists had covered their faces well with scarves, and had done so from early in the demo. I suspect that all in all, the FIT did not have such a good day.
Fighting Fit
e-mail:
defycops(at)yahoo.co.uk
Homepage:
http://www.fitwatch.blogspot.com
Comments
Hide the following 6 comments
V for Vandetta
09.01.2009 20:32
I would gladly buy a few thousand and distribute tomorrow.
The PIGS will have a tough time prosecuting! Not that I am suggesting any one will do anything worthy of prosecution ofcourse! ;-)
Vandetta
last time
09.01.2009 21:02
scarves
Oh the irony...
09.01.2009 21:39
Oh the irony...
loppy
you can get them from
09.01.2009 22:28
V
lordy lord
10.01.2009 12:00
Darwin
Wonder if this cop was at the 10th Jan demo?
11.01.2009 01:18
V for Vendetta