Today the Smash EDO ITT's Hammertime demonstration saw 300 protesters surrounding Brighton's bomb factory and demonstrating against EDO/ITT for six hours.
The demo was named for the 2009 Decommissioning, when a group of activists broke in to the EDO/ITT factory, decommissioning it with hammers to stop the production of weapons components being used by the Israeli military in the Gaza war. The Decommissioners were victorious in court, when they were unanimously acquitted of conspiracy to commit criminal damage in June.
The demo was named for the 2009 Decommissioning, when a group of activists broke in to the EDO/ITT factory, decommissioning it with hammers to stop the production of weapons components being used by the Israeli military in the Gaza war. The Decommissioners were victorious in court, when they were unanimously acquitted of conspiracy to commit criminal damage in June.
Chloe Marsh, SmashEDO press spokesperson, said, “Today's demonstration was about showing EDO that the victory of the Decommissioners in June will not be forgotten, that EDO/ITT's complicity in war crimes is acknowledged far beyond Brighton. ITT's weapon's are not only wreaking havoc in Gaza, but in Iraq, Afghanistan and elsewhere. ITT continues killing, and it's time to finally kick them out of town”.
Early in the morning an accommodation centre in Stanmer Park, where some attending the demonstration were staying, was surrounded by police vans and riot police, and those inside forced to leave in a police cordon.
Despite this, a large group of undeterred protesters were able to meet in Wild Park, and head towards the factory, accompanied by a papier mache F16 aeroplane emblazoned with the words 'Smash EDO'.
The demonstration was met with a high level of police repression, with police continually attempting to push protesters into a 'designated protest zone'. Demonstrators were also assured by police that there would be no police photography, after which the police surveillance teams appeared.
Large sections of the demonstration were able to stay mobile and carry on demonstrating freely against the factory for several hours.
SmashEDO press spokesperson Andrew Beckett said “Despite repeated assertions that they were 'facilitating peaceful protest', the police employed highly repressive tactics in an attempt to quash the demonstration from the start. The large numbers of arrests made today, mostly from within police cordons, will only be used to attempt to justify this massive and disproportionate police operation to protect the workings of EDO/MBM ITT”.
At the time of release there were up to 40 arrests and at least 2 injuries.
SmashEDO Press Spokespeople Andrew Beckett and Chloe Marsh
Phone: 07526557436
Mail:
smashedopress@riseup.net
Notes for Journalists:
The Company
From their base in Moulescoombe Brighton, EDO MBM/ITT, a unit of ITT corporation, manufacture vital parts for the Hellfire and Paveway weapons systems, laserguided missiles used extensively in Iraq, Lebanon, Palestine and Somalia. EDO Corp were recently acquired by ITT in a multi-billion pound deal. ITT's links to fascism go back to the 1930s. The founder Sosthenes Behn was the first foreign businessman received by Hitler after his seizure of power.
The Campaign
There has been active campaign against the presence of EDO MBM in Brighton since the outbreak of the Iraq war. Campaigners include students, Quakers, Palestine solidarity activists, anti-capitalists and academics. Despite an injunction under the protection of harassment act (which failed) and over forty arrests the campaign is still going strong.Their avowed aim is to expose EDO MBM and their complicity in war crimes and to remove them from Brighton. They hold regular weekly demos outside the Moulescoombe factory on Wednesday's between 4 and 6.
THE FILM
On the Verge is an independent film about the SMASH EDO Campaign “In 2004 a group of Brighton peace campaigners began to bang pot and pans outside their local arms manufacturers EDO MBM in disgust of their part in the Iraq war. This has grown into the Smash EDO campaign, which has cost the company millions, been the subject of large scale police operations and has tested the right to protest in the UK.Using activist, police and CCTV footage plus interviews with those involved in the campaign, 'On The Verge' tells the story of one of the most persistent and imaginative campaigns to emerge out of the UK's anti-war movement and direct action scene.”
Early in the morning an accommodation centre in Stanmer Park, where some attending the demonstration were staying, was surrounded by police vans and riot police, and those inside forced to leave in a police cordon.
Despite this, a large group of undeterred protesters were able to meet in Wild Park, and head towards the factory, accompanied by a papier mache F16 aeroplane emblazoned with the words 'Smash EDO'.
The demonstration was met with a high level of police repression, with police continually attempting to push protesters into a 'designated protest zone'. Demonstrators were also assured by police that there would be no police photography, after which the police surveillance teams appeared.
Large sections of the demonstration were able to stay mobile and carry on demonstrating freely against the factory for several hours.
SmashEDO press spokesperson Andrew Beckett said “Despite repeated assertions that they were 'facilitating peaceful protest', the police employed highly repressive tactics in an attempt to quash the demonstration from the start. The large numbers of arrests made today, mostly from within police cordons, will only be used to attempt to justify this massive and disproportionate police operation to protect the workings of EDO/MBM ITT”.
At the time of release there were up to 40 arrests and at least 2 injuries.
SmashEDO Press Spokespeople Andrew Beckett and Chloe Marsh
Phone: 07526557436
Mail:
smashedopress@riseup.net Notes for Journalists:
The Company
From their base in Moulescoombe Brighton, EDO MBM/ITT, a unit of ITT corporation, manufacture vital parts for the Hellfire and Paveway weapons systems, laserguided missiles used extensively in Iraq, Lebanon, Palestine and Somalia. EDO Corp were recently acquired by ITT in a multi-billion pound deal. ITT's links to fascism go back to the 1930s. The founder Sosthenes Behn was the first foreign businessman received by Hitler after his seizure of power.
The Campaign
There has been active campaign against the presence of EDO MBM in Brighton since the outbreak of the Iraq war. Campaigners include students, Quakers, Palestine solidarity activists, anti-capitalists and academics. Despite an injunction under the protection of harassment act (which failed) and over forty arrests the campaign is still going strong.Their avowed aim is to expose EDO MBM and their complicity in war crimes and to remove them from Brighton. They hold regular weekly demos outside the Moulescoombe factory on Wednesday's between 4 and 6.
THE FILM
On the Verge is an independent film about the SMASH EDO Campaign “In 2004 a group of Brighton peace campaigners began to bang pot and pans outside their local arms manufacturers EDO MBM in disgust of their part in the Iraq war. This has grown into the Smash EDO campaign, which has cost the company millions, been the subject of large scale police operations and has tested the right to protest in the UK.Using activist, police and CCTV footage plus interviews with those involved in the campaign, 'On The Verge' tells the story of one of the most persistent and imaginative campaigns to emerge out of the UK's anti-war movement and direct action scene.”
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