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Co-Mutiny respond to police twitering

Co-Mutiny | 10.09.2009 18:46

Representatives of Avon and Somerset police ("Richard and Alex") have tried to contact “the organisers” of the Co- mutiny series of events and protests taking place in Bristol from 12th - 20th September. The co-mutiny has decided to respond with an open letter.

The Dear Richard,Alex and the general public

Thank you for your letters addressed to the attendees of co-mutiny meetings. And for your creation of an email address, website and twitter account relating to the events during Bristol Co-mutiny (12-20th September 09) , your contribution to publicising the week is gratefully received.

Some of the people planning to attend events during the Co-Mutiny have had negative experiences of recent police actions in this country. Prior to the protests coinciding with the G20 summit in London in April this year, the Legal Team of the “Climate Camp in the City” campaign group, had discussions with the police on a number of occasions, informing them of when, where and for how long they planned to hold their peaceful protest. This did nothing to prevent the use of weapons (batons and chemical sprays) on unarmed, non violent, pensioners, adults and children by the police. The well documented death of Ian Tomlinson, a man who was unfortunate to walk too near to a well organised, well informed and well armed police unit, would make anyone reluctant to have a private chat with the police.

This is why we have collectively decided that any communication with you from Co-mutiny as whole will be in a public way, such as this open letter.

Bristol Co-mutiny is not an organisation that has someone “in charge”, it is a week of events around the theme “Social Change not Climate Change”. The public meetings held in the community centre you delivered the letter to, are best described as a communication forum between the various groups and individuals who have come together to Co-mutiny,

To this end Co-mutiny does not have any “organisers” in the institutional sense, so there is no single group or individual who is able to inform you about Co-mutiny as a whole. All events and decisions made by Co-mutiny as a whole are in the public domain.

This does not mean that the attendees of Co-mutiny don't share some common aims they do, namely a belief that the radical change we desperately need in this time of “crisis” is best achieved through grass-routes organisations which operate in a way that means everyone has an equal say in the decisions. Unfortunately the police force can not operate in this way.

Your number and contact details have been published and distributed to groups and individuals who may be planning events during the Co-mutiny week. If these groups or individuals wish to contact you to facilitate peaceful policing at a specific event related to Co-mutiny then you have provided clear avenues of communication.

We sincerely hope that the Co-mutiny events witness peaceful policing.

Http://www.comutiny.wordpress.com

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