Stottie Kyek posted:

The SDL are coming to Edinburgh on the 17th and marching down the Royal Mile between 2pm and 3:15pm. (Or at least they'll try, some of the guys at the branch are talking about blocking their route.)

Yep. The council, on the police's advice, agreed to let a racist group hold a march down the busiest street in Edinburgh, past several shops owned and run by Asian people, right in the middle of the Fringe and Book Festival when there'll be a ton of foreign acts and tourists who now have to either avoid their whole meeting place (and not spend their money in the city) or get caught up in it (and avoid the city ever since and ruin its reputation). The Mile is quite close to the part of town where most of the students and some of the Muslims live too, near the mosque.

We in the CPB handed out fliers about it and the counter-protest round all the small businesses and flats near the Mile the other day. The response was a mix of incredulity that the council would allow it, support (and a lot of recruitment!) for the counter-protest and plans to contact the council. Two teenage lads had a good laugh about how crap the SDL were and asked me how big the biggest guy on our side is. When I said there was a pretty big ex-army guy there and we'd all block any folk who needed protection (this is true, people have brought their kids along to these in the past), they said they'd come help us out.

Personally I'm hoping at least one acrobatics/martial arts display troupe is putting on a Fringe show this year and plans to leaflet that day.

John Charity Spring posted:

This is absolutely crazy.

If I was in Edinburgh this weekend I'd join the counter-protest for sure. I won't be there until Monday though.

baka kaba posted:

It seems bizarre that it isn't generating some media outrage.

goddamnedtwisto posted:

(as well as the fact this is being organised by London EDL, who are hated by most of the rest)

baka kaba posted:

Funny that they'd name themselves after a German supermarket

goddamnedtwisto posted:

the entrance to Cable Street

Superbus MAS posted:

I think we are really lucky in Denmark that we have a tame/soft "fascist" party who is gobbling up all the anti-immigration votes. It's like they are a fire depriving the air of oxygen so no other fire can start.

Does the EDL actually fill much in the day-to-day life of the average British person?

Superbus MAS posted:

Does the EDL actually fill much in the day-to-day life of the average British person?

Superbus MAS posted:

I think we are really lucky in Denmark that we have a tame/soft "fascist" party who is gobbling up all the anti-immigration votes. It's like they are a fire depriving the air of oxygen so no other fire can start.

Superbus MAS posted:

Does the EDL actually fill much in the day-to-day life of the average British person?

Superbus MAS posted:

I think we are really lucky in Denmark that we have a tame/soft "fascist" party who is gobbling up all the anti-immigration votes. It's like they are a fire depriving the air of oxygen so no other fire can start.

Does the EDL actually fill much in the day-to-day life of the average British person?

Superbus MAS posted:

I think we are really lucky in Denmark that we have a tame/soft "fascist" party who is gobbling up all the anti-immigration votes. It's like they are a fire depriving the air of oxygen so no other fire can start.

North East Anti Fascists posted:

Anti Fascists Mass Arrested for nothing - gently caress the Police

North East Anti Fascists encouraged all available anti fascists to head for East London today to confront the EDL, and in many respects it was like some other demonstrations; cops in charge, UAF doing nothing, racists being drunk etc.

Today's London demonstration looks different however due to the scale of petty arrests of anti fascists, possibly for a number of reasons we will now outline. Anti fascism looks like one of the ways the secret state plans its social control of radicalism, pro and anti.

In South Shields recently, for what from the outside looks to be a fairly insignificant moment in politics, actually saw the entire forces of the state deployed in planning the containment of what was happening. The chief and deputy constables of Northumbria were involved and present, special branch, public order policing unit, the police commissioner and local politicians in a full public order control room & on the streets - and that's only what we know about. Similarly, the events in London today show that there is more at stake both for us and our fat controllers.

The New Departure

The direct action anti fascists left the UAF static protest at Altab Ali Park in Whitechapel, to try and achieve something outside of the pacified space of the 'official protest', as any anti fascist progress can only be obtained outside of that space.

After attempts to get towards the fascists, in a pre-planned mass arrest operation the filth announced that a whole kettle was about to be arrested "for breach of Section 12 of Public Order Act". This lead to a truly ridiculous scale of arrests, close to 300 after 6 hour of kettling. All of them totally needless and a large waste of police time and resources. Suddenly, when there have been loads of such viral demonstrations previously, they decided to impose their (Cartmen South Park accent) 'authoritay'.

This is total policing, total domination and a pathetic abuse of their positions. Wankers. They are trying to gather intelligence on anti fascists by this scale of arrests, but they arrested innocent members of the public and journalists, so as usual they will have to shell out cash (we wish it came out of arresting officers pockets and the officer in charge) for their crap policing.

They are also trying to scare and intimidate anti fascists off the streets, which is clear from the bail conditions imposed on protesters (see photo), but we say "gently caress You pathetic bastards, you only do it cos you're well paid and well protected, we do it cos we mean it". The intent of the mass arrests is to clampdown on the progressive social movements, and the only answer we have to this, is to encourage all those enraged by this, those we don't know, our supporters, new contacts, old friends etc to come out with us on anti fascist and other activities. We simply have to redouble our efforts, and make what they are trying to do impossible & counter productive.

To the EDL, we say, you lot were looked after by the police in South Shields very well, the police used kid gloves on the fascists (ignoring the pissing on walls and graffiti) and the oppressive policing was aimed at anti fascists (arrests for trying to protect a photographer from EDL aggression etc). The cops looked after you again in London, while anti fascists have the mass arrests, not the EDL numpties. The '2 tier policing' is clearly aimed at anti fascists.

TO the Left we note that the UAF claimed a victory, again. Ridiculous, again. How? The EDL had their rally without encountering mass opposition, while those who tried to confront them were arrested. Victory, as defined by any reasonable standard, would have been visibly confronting EDL and getting in their way, not standing in a park all day listening to Councillors and priests making well meaning but impotent speeches.

We say the street fighting Anti Fascists from Cable Street would shake their heads & laugh at the UAF, and would recognise in the attempts at direct action and civil disobedience against the fascists the real militant anti fascist tradition.

Solidarity to all arrested, and watch this space for more developments. The North East Anti Fascists will have probably had people arrested today as we had some activists there, we will try to let you all know what support is needed, we give notice that your active support is necessary, and we will publish eye witness reports when we get them.

*No Pasaran* - *They Shall Not Pass!*

Tias posted:

Holy crap, it's fashman!

Also, what is the English Volunteer Force?

Tias posted:

Holy crap, it's fashman!

Also, what is the English Volunteer Force?

Gonzo McFee posted:

Fashman! Ahaaaaaaa

Fighter of the Green man! Ahaaaaaaa
Champion of the scum

You're a master of Arsery and Racism for everyone!

quote:

EDL leader Tommy Robinson held on east London march.

English Defence League (EDL) leader Tommy Robinson has been arrested as about 500 supporters of the far-right group held a march in east London.

About 3,000 officers were deployed as the group walked from Queen Elizabeth Street, over Tower Bridge, to Aldgate.

Police said 14 people, mainly from the EDL, were arrested for public order offences during the march.

By 19:40 BST, police said about 150 counter-protesters had been arrested for diverting from their agreed route.

On Friday, the EDL lost a court battle after police cut short the route of its planned march through the Tower Hamlets area, which has one of the biggest Muslim populations in the country.

Hundreds of anti-fascist demonstrators gathered at a park in Aldgate East to protest against the shortened EDL march.[...]

Vice posted:

I WAS ARRESTED FOR TRYING TO REPORT ON SATURDAY'S EDL RALLY

Boredom is the British state's primary means of political repression. In Madrid, Athens and Rome, the cops hurl out the tear gas; in London, they bore you to tears. Granted, horrifying stuff has happened to protesters at the hands of the British police – and they're not doing badly in the global surveillance stakes – but their bread and butter is boredom.

I got some first-hand experience of this myself after I was arrested while reporting at an anti-fascist demonstration on Saturday afternoon. Militant anti-fascists had taken to the streets to confront the marauding punchline that is the English Defence League, and – as is often the case with journalists – I was there to cover the occasion.

Unfortunately, the anti-EDL march had defied the Met's strict itinerary and set off 15 minutes early, which was reason enough for the police to kettle the antifa crowd for hours on end. Eventually, we were arrested en masse. They ended up releasing most people with restrictive bail conditions that make it pretty much illegal for them to protest against fascists (or, in my case, report on those protests) in London until at least late October.

As the kettle closed in, I realised that had I been standing ten metres in either direction, I'd have avoided arrest. Instead, I was stuck there. Consensus was sure that once the EDL had been sent packing, we'd all be released. After all, what would be the point in detaining us if there were no fascists for antifa to fight?

We were wrong. As the hours ticked by, there was still no sign of the EDL but ominously the police started to wheel portaloos into the kettle. We kicked our feet and slowly ran out of cigarettes. Then word started filtering through that arrests were being made in another kettle and the tedium turned into agitation. Some empty red double-deckers rolled into view. Anyone who could remember the recent BNP march in London realised immediately what this meant: we were all going to be arrested. Some decided it was better to get it over with and formed a queue towards the cuffs. Others hung back, but we were all arrested in the end.

I was led off by a member of the City of London Police. Somewhere near the beginning of his questions, he interrupted himself, looked me in the eyes and said, “I just want to let you know that I get no pleasure at all from doing this.” I wasn’t sure if it made it better or worse that we were both having a poo poo time.

Things really got awkward when we got on the bus. With the bottom deck full of bored looking protesters each with their own bored looking cop, I was led to the top deck. Unfortunately me and my policeman were the only people up there. The cop seemed pretty determined to make friends, so we exchanged stilted small talk all the way to Lewisham Police Station, like two strangers at a house party trapped by common courtesy and a queue for the toilet. He admitted that he was content in his job 90 percent of the time, but wasn't too happy about the way today had gone.

He told me that he didn’t really like the EDL. His parents were Spanish and had fled to England when the Spanish Civil War ended, having fought against the fascists. The EDL are hardly Franco, but it seemed a little miserable that the son of people who had risked their lives to fight fascism was currently rounding up anti-fascists and journalists.

After arriving at Lewisham police station, we were all led out to join a queue of about 15 other protesters. As time went by, the queue increasingly resembled the line for the world's most paranoid nightclub, one overzealous bouncer to every punter. Nothing really happened for about four hours. There was more awkward small talk between cops and perps. Absolutely nobody wanted to be there.

At all times, from my arrest onwards, I'd taken every opportunity to point out that I am a journalist, not a protester. It made absolutely no difference. Eventually, we made it inside to a little caged waiting room. Just before I was processed, my arresting officer was given leave to go home. He tapped me and said, “Take it easy, buddy.” Frankly I wasn't being given much option, so I continued to take it easy at her Majesty's pleasure.

I was called in and stood behind a counter while my rights were read to me, before I was photographed and had my fingerprints taken. This made me think the whole thing was more an exercise in intelligence gathering, rather than simply being a lazy way of ensuring there were no clashes in Tower Hamlets that day.

I was put in a cell. This was just until they had verified that I was who I said I was, they explained. This despite that fact they had already asked me for my address about five times, checked my name against my cards and then again against the electoral roll.

I think I was in there for half an hour or so. It was long enough to check out the bed (thin), use the toilet (acceptable) and do a lot of pacing (tax-funded quad workout). At around 2.30AM, they gave me my stuff back and let me out of the huge enforced queue I'd been waiting in for over 12 hours. It was then I discovered that – like most of the others who'd been arrested – I was now on bail and would have to go back to the station for questioning in October, after which I could potentially be charged. My bail conditions are "not to engage in demonstration within the boundaries of the M25 where the English Defence League, English Volunteer Force or British National Party are present". Effectively they've made it a crime for me to report on the EDL. Which is bullshit.

By the time I was at the station, the police were well aware that I was a journalist. The General Secretary of the National Union of Journalists, as well as a number of colleagues and friends, had called the station vouching for me. I wasn’t fully aware of this at the point and no police officer ever acknowledged my position as a journalist. A bunch of drunken racists regularly taking to the streets is a pretty big deal and people have a right to be informed about it, meaning I should probably have a right to write about it.

Around 280 anti-fascists were arrested on Saturday. Reports suggest that, other than the few who'd been charged for GBH or resisting police arrest, they all got the same bail conditions as I did. The police have used their powers in a way that means large numbers of people who wanted to speak out against stampeding bigots will face arrest if they do so until late October. In nearly all cases, their crime was to be present at an anti-fascist march that started 15 minutes early. With only eight of the EDL being arrested, the police are leaving themselves wide open to allegations of bias in favour of the far right and against their opponents.

The police will argue that, no matter what your political stripes, if you transgress the conditions of a protest, you’re nicked (and to be fair, I do remember the police kettling the EDL for hours in Walthamstow and giving them similar treatment). On the one hand, that seems fair. But it also means that you basically can't do anything beyond ineffectual banner waving.

Somewhere during the student protests of 2011, the police realised that boredom was their best weapon. Beating up lefties looks really bad in the press, but a kettle makes for boring copy. Saturday's arrests were weaponised bureaucracy, a brilliantly British tactic of punishing people so mundanely that they won't even have a decent story to tell their mates once it's over. They're trying to make street politics so boring that no kid would ever be bothered to join in. I’m not saying I’d rather live somewhere where the police are likely to kick the eyes out of your head before they’ve even asked you a question, but political policing in this country is all the more effective for its subtlety.

quote:

Rule 19.25(1) places a requirement on the defendant to notify the prosecutor of the address at which he would reside if released on bail with a condition of residence as soon as practicable after the institution of proceedings, and as soon as practicable after any change of address

KayTee posted:

KayTee posted:

Unfortunately that's about the limit of the info I have about the Tower Hamlets/Aldgate demo. Aside from the rather horrid stories out there about the treatment of some anti fascists, very little else happened. Presumably because every pub and shop had closed their doors in preparation to the arrival of about 500 shitheads.

glitchkrieg posted:

Nearly every pub/bar in that area is closed at the weekends because of low demand, as none of the City suits are about then. I'm finding it amusing to think about all the EDL being annoyed that they can't even get pissed on their "protest".

PiCroft posted:

Why the gently caress do they insist on getting pissed at their "protests"? Do many other protest groups do this? Use their complaints as a pretense to go boozing in another random city?

Sri.Theo posted:

Are you serious? I can't think of one that is, but maybe we hang around in different parts of Tower Hamlets!

Sri.Theo posted:

Are you serious? I can't think of one that is, but maybe we hang around in different parts of Tower Hamlets!

PiCroft posted:

Why the gently caress do they insist on getting pissed at their "protests"? Do many other protest groups do this? Use their complaints as a pretense to go boozing in another random city?