Worldwide March Against Corruption – London pics and report
rikki | 03.03.2014 09:50 | Policing | London
Several hundred people marched across London yesterday afternoon as part of worldwide events in UK, Canada, US, Australia, Nepal, and the Netherlands.
The march was called globally via a website that calls for non-violent direct action and an awareness campaign against corruption in governance and public policy, highlighting the corrupting influence of money and special interests. The site associates itself with the March Against Monsanto (
http://indyrikki.wordpress.com/2013/10/13/london-march-against-monsanto-12th-oct-2013/) which happened last year, and seems to be loosely affiliated with the ‘anonymous’ and ‘occupy’ movements.
The individual London march was called on Facebook by “Megaphone Mitch”/”Megafone Mitch” whose internet presence appears limited to the last few during which he has promoted similar events. Interestingly, a journalist contact has informed me that Mitch admits to being an ex-cop, and he certainly doesn’t seem to be well-known in any grassroots movements. This information isn’t intended to imply anything particularly negative, but it is notable that someone with little ‘track record’ can bring together hundreds of protestors to various events just through a campaign of promotion on social media. While on the one hand this can be a good thing, it should also be an illustration how easy it is to manipulate social movements, especially in the context of recent history eg Ukraine, Syria, Egypt and elsewhere, where immense manipulation has occurred on a far greater scale.
So at lunchtime yesterday, a few hundred people gathered at Trafalgar Square, and shortly after 1.30 they set off on what seemed to be a police-approved route (uncharacteristic of #anonymous protests that have in the past refused to comply with notification requirements). Mitch led with his megaphone from near the front of the march, and the whole event ran through the afternoon with precision timing. The only deviation from the plan was while passing Harvey Nicholls in Knightsbridge, twice in the afternoon, where a separate group protesting about fur sales at the store, were joined for a few minutes by the marchers, causing some panic by security staff and the closure of the doors.
The rally outside the Ecuador embassy ended with the announcement that there was a message from Julian Assange – this was read out over a PA twice, before Mitch rallied his gang and they set off to Whitehall and Parliament Square, with a brief stop and road blockade at Downing Street along the way.
Policing throughout was fairly tolerant, closing off Whitehall, ignoring breaches of guide tapes and so on, but with plenty of back-up nearby, always in overall control.
Under Mitch’s guidance and megaphone leadership, the crowd arrived back at Parliament at the advertised time of 5pm. For about half an hour, the road in front of Parliament was closed to traffic. The only scuffle of the afternoon occurred when police attempted to grab a man for questioning after an incident in which someone’s phone was smashed in an altercation. The crowd wouldn’t give up the person the police wanted to speak to, and twice the cops had to retreat from the crowd despite robust attempts to pull him out.
More police arrived and, outnumbering the remaining crowd, they cleared the road, mostly through persuasion but backed by heavy numbers, and some singing, chanting, and rap video-making went on, while lines of police kept the crowd off the road, as numbers dwindled into the night.
Organised by unknown people, attracting a motley bunch, which seemed to include a range of genuine protest groups and all ages as well as unfortunately some far-right factions, watched by shadowy figures on the edges, this was a very weird event. In terms of protest, it suffered from having an unfocussed message, but the ‘anonymous’ brand was well represented. I had my own suspicions that some people there were not all they seemed, and I was not alone in this – there was quite a lot of suspicion and paranoia around.
At the start and at the end of the march, a red ‘Justitia’ battle-bus circled around, beeping its horn and advertising the ‘force4justice.co.uk’ website. This seems to be a possibly right-wing but libertarian outfit, pushing for changes in the judiciary system and publicising the incarceration of an elderly man named Norman Scarth, who was caught recording a secret trial. People cheered as the bus passed by, and a couple of well-dressed gentlemen waved from the upper deck. Another curiosity in a curious afternoon.
------------------
more pics at https://indyrikki.wordpress.com
http://indyrikki.wordpress.com/2013/10/13/london-march-against-monsanto-12th-oct-2013/) which happened last year, and seems to be loosely affiliated with the ‘anonymous’ and ‘occupy’ movements. The individual London march was called on Facebook by “Megaphone Mitch”/”Megafone Mitch” whose internet presence appears limited to the last few during which he has promoted similar events. Interestingly, a journalist contact has informed me that Mitch admits to being an ex-cop, and he certainly doesn’t seem to be well-known in any grassroots movements. This information isn’t intended to imply anything particularly negative, but it is notable that someone with little ‘track record’ can bring together hundreds of protestors to various events just through a campaign of promotion on social media. While on the one hand this can be a good thing, it should also be an illustration how easy it is to manipulate social movements, especially in the context of recent history eg Ukraine, Syria, Egypt and elsewhere, where immense manipulation has occurred on a far greater scale.
So at lunchtime yesterday, a few hundred people gathered at Trafalgar Square, and shortly after 1.30 they set off on what seemed to be a police-approved route (uncharacteristic of #anonymous protests that have in the past refused to comply with notification requirements). Mitch led with his megaphone from near the front of the march, and the whole event ran through the afternoon with precision timing. The only deviation from the plan was while passing Harvey Nicholls in Knightsbridge, twice in the afternoon, where a separate group protesting about fur sales at the store, were joined for a few minutes by the marchers, causing some panic by security staff and the closure of the doors.
The rally outside the Ecuador embassy ended with the announcement that there was a message from Julian Assange – this was read out over a PA twice, before Mitch rallied his gang and they set off to Whitehall and Parliament Square, with a brief stop and road blockade at Downing Street along the way.
Policing throughout was fairly tolerant, closing off Whitehall, ignoring breaches of guide tapes and so on, but with plenty of back-up nearby, always in overall control.
Under Mitch’s guidance and megaphone leadership, the crowd arrived back at Parliament at the advertised time of 5pm. For about half an hour, the road in front of Parliament was closed to traffic. The only scuffle of the afternoon occurred when police attempted to grab a man for questioning after an incident in which someone’s phone was smashed in an altercation. The crowd wouldn’t give up the person the police wanted to speak to, and twice the cops had to retreat from the crowd despite robust attempts to pull him out.
More police arrived and, outnumbering the remaining crowd, they cleared the road, mostly through persuasion but backed by heavy numbers, and some singing, chanting, and rap video-making went on, while lines of police kept the crowd off the road, as numbers dwindled into the night.
Organised by unknown people, attracting a motley bunch, which seemed to include a range of genuine protest groups and all ages as well as unfortunately some far-right factions, watched by shadowy figures on the edges, this was a very weird event. In terms of protest, it suffered from having an unfocussed message, but the ‘anonymous’ brand was well represented. I had my own suspicions that some people there were not all they seemed, and I was not alone in this – there was quite a lot of suspicion and paranoia around.
At the start and at the end of the march, a red ‘Justitia’ battle-bus circled around, beeping its horn and advertising the ‘force4justice.co.uk’ website. This seems to be a possibly right-wing but libertarian outfit, pushing for changes in the judiciary system and publicising the incarceration of an elderly man named Norman Scarth, who was caught recording a secret trial. People cheered as the bus passed by, and a couple of well-dressed gentlemen waved from the upper deck. Another curiosity in a curious afternoon.
------------------
more pics at
https://indyrikki.wordpress.com
rikki
e-mail:
rikkiindymedia(At)gmail[d0t]com
Homepage:
https://indyrikki.wordpress.com
Comments
Hide the following 36 comments
Megaphone Mitch
03.03.2014 13:26
He suddenly became active only very recently and yet seems able to mobalise a couple of hundred people with little effort, at least one of those people is a known soldier. It's all very curious.
Lucy
Curious
03.03.2014 14:05
During the broadcast I noticed that someone had a Northern Irish Red Hand of Ulster flag, I found that very confusing, but having watched longer the person seemed to be on their own.
It reminds me of the anonymous flags combined with the Union flags that I have seen on occasion. I feel its more down to political naivety than anything more sinster.
"Organised by unknown people, attracting a motley bunch, which seemed to include a range of genuine protest groups and all ages as well as unfortunately some far-right factions"
As I have already pointed out I watched the whole demo on live stream, this morning I have also went through numerous postings on demotix to see if I could see any of these 'far-right factions'. Unfortunately I have been unable to locate any, maybe the author may be able to produce some pictures?
I don't know the organiser of this demo, I have no axe to grind with him. I don't see how the state benefits from this demo? Was he promoting violence? Attacking other activists? Asking personal details of others?
I mean should anyone else have the courage to organise a demo be subject to the same analysis?
I am also failing to see how this is some sort of intelligence gathering operation. In fact the revelations of the last few weeks about the tactics employed by GCHQ to split the activist movement and target known dissidents causes me more concern than some eccentric guy with a megaphone.
In terms of the involvement of ex combatants on this demo. Are we now excluding them as well, maybe you should point that out to Veterans for Peace?
Anonymous
War with Europe via Russia, said the yankee Arab terrorist.
03.03.2014 14:09
Whether this is justified or not is difficult to know but this report, the comment by "Lucy" following, and the tone of this report just go to show how easy it is for activists to fall into the trap of representing the very same state denial of legitimacy that many movements have encountered in the past. That isn't to cast aspersions on Rikki (that's with a capital R) who is anything other than completely legit, its just to point out how easy a mistake this is to make.
Never judge a man in his own cause. If you do that, nothing ever gets done.
But maybe this has some curiosities about it, if it does then a far higher standard of proof will be needed than simply "inferring" that something untoward is going on.
P.S. What has any of this got to do with state sponsored corruption, which is what this march was about?
We live in a "state organised" Capitalist regime, and capitalism and corruption go hand in hand. Who can deny that in this arena, there is no political choice at all. Vote Labour or Conservative or Lib Dem, and the policies you get for your voting buck are identical. This thing you call Capitalism is a monopoly. Its hardly a surprise that it is also a political monopoly.
And what is the choice from the independents, UKIP which is nothing more than a trans-Atlantic piss pot for anti-Europeans and Whitehouse robots.
Leave the guy alone, until you have solid evidence why you shouldn't.
Barack Cameron.
All very confusing
03.03.2014 15:08
Megaphone Mitch is a confusing individual and I have seen and heard many different opinions about him, some good, some bad. He openly admits to being a former cop so we can't say he is hiding that part of his life however "Dave" who always seems to be close at hand is another matter. He speaks very little, avoids questions and keeps a very low profile for reasons that are not clear plus he take a lot (a real lot) of video and photos.
All that aside it was good to see people out on the streets and a good number of new contacts / friends were made.
Mike from Dulwich.
Was on the march
Mitch
03.03.2014 16:49
anon.
woah?
03.03.2014 18:55
fuck anonymous
corruption
03.03.2014 18:58
So the march against corruption err was corrupt itself. Well done not kicking the fuckout of the infiltrators. Geez.
me
Don't fuck Anonymous
03.03.2014 19:06
As for "fuck anonymous", speaking of dicks, this person calls out from "cyberland" to tell other people to "Fuck off back to cyberland"! Christ the trolls are thick
As for Mitch / Mitchell Ross, can we have some actual links and screen-grabs of his Facebook page?
No Red Hand
Northern Irish Red Hand of Ulster Flag
03.03.2014 19:08
Anonymous
Northern Irish Red Hand of Ulster Flag
03.03.2014 19:10
Anonymous
Maybe time to introduce something to have everyone reflect
03.03.2014 19:18
Anonymous
Anti corruption Demo 01.03.2014
03.03.2014 23:54
I was very impressed with the turnout, estimates at 1000+ And encouraged that my message of Unity had been received, by the presence of what are usually termed "Right wingers" attending the march. And relieved that in unity we were focused on a common goal.
The outward bound route stayed on course I think primarily so that any latecomer could catch up or meet en route, as was the case when a contingent joined from Haymarket as the main group headed down Pall Mall.
On reaching Knightsbridge the march did indeed support an anti fur demo, being held outside, Harvey Nichols much to the dismay & surprise of the two guards outside the shop, the crowd chanted surged and the shutters were rolled and locked.
Next stop Ecuadorian embassy Police tried to divert us towards Sloane St, but we held our course along knightsbridge. where we chanted at the police and Cheered for Julian Assange, After a time An envoy came outside with a huge wooden bowl of sweets, and following that a written statement from Assange & the wiki leaks team. Which was read out in first by a woman & then by a man. Significance possible.
On the return journey we backtracked to Piccadilly circus and down Haymarket. The police had Not expected Us! And wanted us to go via Victoria. But were convinced that going past the palace was a bad idea. The march continued west along Piccadilly past Eros, There were what seemed like several thousand tourist's lining both sides of the pavements looking on in amazement, on down Haymarket past our starting point and round into Whitehall where we stopped for a very motivational rant at Cameron & the police, I have found only 2 video's on yu tube 1 //
Eventually we reached Parliament square where the usual kettle tactics took over, There were vocal Freemen of the Land present who debated and cornered the police on Their use of maritime law, to which they would not admit or deny.
People then dispersed as and when.
Marquis Le Dain
Homepage:
@MarquisLeDain
That flag
04.03.2014 01:40
Subs
Right wing groups, who decides ?
04.03.2014 20:11
Another person who was there
@Another person who was there What a ridiculous response!
05.03.2014 09:15
Anne Frankly
NOT FRACKING AMUSED
05.03.2014 22:27
Anon Applicable
Response to Mr Pink
05.03.2014 23:00
Glad you had a nice chinwag. Nevertheless, I think you took a wrong turning heading to your lefty site and ended up here mate....................
Anne Frankly
Homepage:
know your enemy.com
response to mr pink?
05.03.2014 23:42
anon applicable
@ Mr Pink. Go join the Liberal Democrats..
06.03.2014 09:00
Anne Frankly
anne,
06.03.2014 13:49
anon applicable
cops and bobbers
06.03.2014 14:01
fuck this lot
Q anon applicable. Can I get some clarification as slightly confused...
06.03.2014 17:29
but you were annoyed and dissappointed when you went to show affection to the chief plod and less was offered to you? This being the institutionally rascist, corrupt and murderous met police. "Rude at best, ignorant at worst"
Also you state "i am a true neutral" and "doesnt mean im middle of the road" Can you please explain those contradictions!
"police and state infiltration of protest groups is not ethical" Ethical!!
Thank you for your time!
Aunty Christ
christy
06.03.2014 21:59
hope that clears that up for you
anon applicable
Was a great march
07.03.2014 08:22
Jason palmer
e-mail:
Jason.palmer1971@gmail.com
@anon applicable. So you don't think the institutionally......
07.03.2014 09:16
You sound like either a very naive virgin demonstrator and if so I hope you learned something valuable out of that experience or you sound like a undercover cop....
Hopefully the former but as we have been discovering lots of undercover filth in the movement over the past year and lately which need replacing you can not be too carefullll......
Aunty Christ
@ Aunty Christ - well said mate !
07.03.2014 10:03
No pig can be trusted, Black, white male, female, any variation. They are all scum.
The activist world is currently full of these Facebook loving tossers who think a nice safe march in the sun with a few SWP produced banners is going to change the world. Most of them probably vote Labour for fucks sake !
ACAB
For 'ACAB'
07.03.2014 12:27
The police are simply the modern day extension of the people's militia from the 16th Century, if we didn't have them today we would need to invent them. Who do you want to keep order, them (a trained, equiped group accountable to the people) or some local thug ?
Think about it
anon applicable
Response to anon applicable. I know A.C.A.B will speak for him/herself..
07.03.2014 12:51
firstly you ask
" Has it ever occured to you that the police you are so happy to have a go at are the same police who keep the BNP and EDL away from you"
Why do they keep the BNP/EDL away from the likes of me and A.C.A.B? You assume they are a threat to us when we are the bigger threat to them. The cops are protecting them thats why. Most antifascists would love to get their hands on the scum but the plod continually protect them. Ask yourself why!
Secondly
"Who do you want to keep order, them (a trained, equiped group accountable to the people) or some local thug?"
Have you any idea of the behaviour of the police especially as reported over the past four or five decades? The corruption, 3000 murders in police custoday over three decades. The infiltration and rape of activists. The beating of women and children. Etc etc and I could go on forever. Accountable to what people? Who has ever been charged for all the murders and asassinations, deception, beatings, racism... Do you live in a rural village with thirty people two sheep and a local bobby? Is that who you judge the police force by?
Shit mate, you have a whole lot to learn.....
Aunty Christ
Some people are so dumb
07.03.2014 14:35
The point being made here is that most of us would prefer it is enforced by an organisation that
a) selects people with some form of criteria that wider society approves of
b) equips them with the ability to defend themselves from the more violent elements in society
c) ensures they have an understanding of the law
d) gives society the legal means to prosecute them when they mess up
e) regulates them
f) maintains control over their command structure
The current police service despite its failings (and I'm not defending them when they do fail) meets the points above. Now of course if you have some super smart idea that nobody else has thought off feel free to let the rest of us know but I'm betting you haven't.
Cliff
Diversion
07.03.2014 14:36
Jason palmer
e-mail:
Jason.palmer1971@gmail.com
We don't need the police or any other form of control
07.03.2014 16:06
Who says we need a police to enfore laws, who says we need laws, who says that people are not more than capable of making their own decisions about what is right and wrong in society ?
I don't accept your premise that society needs to be controlled or that it will fall into chaos just because the police are not there to stop it. Individuals can police themselves once the control of the bosses is removed.
Not important to this
Response to 'Not important to this'
07.03.2014 16:16
Cliff sounds like a spokesperson for Hogan-Howe and his corporate paymasters..
Aunty Christ
@ Cliff (on the edge). "Some people are so dumb"
07.03.2014 18:10
"The point however is that it is fairly obvious to anybody with half a brain that society needs law enforcement because without it chaos and violence follow pretty bloody quickly !"
Obvious to you, but those with half a brain think rationally and differently. Anyway Fuck you, the met and all of its agencies..
Bored and Angry
Re: Cliffhanger
09.03.2014 18:45
All Cops - Dead Cops
Fuck Mitch Megabone & Co.
(A)nonymous
People are not that stupid
11.03.2014 15:25
Cops sure are fucking stupid sometimes !
Laughing
Can we get some pics of 'Mitch' up on Indymedia please...
12.03.2014 11:47
Anne Frankly