G20 protest London – over and out

We were at the very end of the march that had started at Liverpool Street and as soon as we arrived at the streets leading to the Bank of England the police closed their lines behind us and we couldn’t leave. We had to cross right through the middle, through the crowds in the narrow streets, trying to get out somewhere else perhaps. After about half an hour we found a gap in the lines and went outside the police cordon only to be closed in again by a second line of policemen behind us. Discussions were futile. We heard that we have had enough time to leave and that we should try at the end of the line where they were letting people out. This was one of the cat and mouse games the police were playing with everyone that afternoon. Go over there, they will let you out. Of course go into the tube station where you will find a toilet (knowing full well that the tube station had been closed).

We were told we couldn’t leave for our own health and safety. I am still trying to figure out how this was healthy or safe for the hundreds and thousands of demonstrators who tried to get out and away. Keeping us caged in was not protecting us, if anything, it made it more likely that something would happen to us. If the police had really been concerned for our welfare they would of course have done the opposite. They would have let us go instead of pushing us closer and closer together. Claiming anything else is just insulting and mocking people who are at your mercy. Which we were. And I think this is the crucial point.

Hearing different reasons from different policemen standing only metres apart was a good indicator that there was no good reason to keep us there.

Some other things people were told:
What was your purpose of coming here today?
How do I know that you did not beat that policeman who was lying on the floor?
We are trying to identify some people and you all have to be here until that’s done.

They told us that if we could prove to them that we were not the troublemakers we were free to go. So we were suspects? No. Well then we could go? No. Erm? I guess Kafka and Orwell couldn’t have come up with a better plot.

We were standing for about an hour at the same police line. None of the people there trying to get out was violent or threatening. They were desperate, angry, resigned and frustrated. And they learnt something about this democracy and the police. They were showing flight tickets, employers cards and passports to get out. They were asking for toilet facilities and water, none of which was available to us.

The police knew well that if anyone had tried to storm through their lines they could point their finger at these ‘violent protesters’. But of course the hundreds of people I encountered at the lines, being denied their right of free movement had no violence in mind. Good, law-abiding citizens that we are, we waited and talked and argued. Maybe we were not good enough for the government? Maybe their idea of a good citizen is to not question what the authorities do and tell you? Alas there were hundreds of those rational, decent human beings who could not understand that if they were not arrested, not charged with anything, how were they not free to go?

Even before the protests, the comments that Gordon Brown made that no violence or intimidation would be tolerated gave a good indication of the attitude towards the protesters. The message is of course very clear in all of this. Protesting against and criticising capitalism and the policies of governments will not be tolerated and shall be pushed far away to the fringes of society. Whereas of course these are concerns that many people have, and a lot of questions.

The implication seemed to be that if you were caught up there, daring to come out and demonstrate or just show your support or interest in a protest march against the G20 meeting - well it was your own fault if you were in any kind of trouble.

The media had done its best to give the needed impression before and after the protest that it was a bunch of black-clothed, young adults roaming the streets, believing in nothing and always ready for a fight. Many people were probably put off attending the protest by this ‘anticipated’ violence. Well, looking around there was a huge mix of people. There were even city workers in their suits coming to have a look (or just being defiant).

Yes, some people smashed windows and there were some scuffles but above all and as always they were in the minority. There were thousands of peaceful protesters who had come out to show they disagreed with the greedy banking system, the government’s policies and who stood up for a decent life for people. But of course the media focused on the incidents of trouble that happened. And somehow, every time we hear and read about that protest this is neatly connected with keeping thousands of people ‘kettled’ in for hours; thus quietly and shamelessly burying the issue under the incidents of violence.

I walked around while we were caged in and there was nothing much happening. Some people had decided to wait it out, sitting on the floor reading or talking to each other. Others were going around trying to get out. There was a huge sense of it all not making sense. In the end my friend was let out to pick up his child. When I wanted to go with him I was told that because I had argued with the policemen I wasn’t allowed out with him. I wonder which law the policeman was using at that point?

In certain areas of the world people have come to learn that there is no sane basis and that the rule of law is being bend until it’s unrecognisable, but in a democracy you expect something better.
People at the protest were told that they had no freedom to go. I don’t know what you call that, but I am sure our government would have lots of good words for it if it happened somewhere else in the world…here they call it health and safety.