So I went to London with a few friends to observe, if you will, the G20 protests. The day started with us missing the Megabus and having to pay £20 for a National Express coach. Boo! The ride down was lovely, sun was shining, we had food, music and, as soon as it was 1.30, alcohol. We thought this was a reasonable time, no?
We walked from Victoria Coach Station - we think Obama drove past us at Buckingham Palace by the way! - to Charing Cross, before we gave in to our booze laden back packs and got the tube to Liverpool St. The police had closed off the Bank stop, funnily enough...
We went straight over to Climate Camp on Bishopsgate and wandered around taking in the scenery! It was cool to see people "coming together", groups had brought home-made veggie food to give away, toilets had been set up and there was a few stereos up and down the street blaring out drum and bass. We eventually came across a commotion, I can't remember the street, but it was around the corner from the top of Bishopsgate. There was police in the middle of two crowds, splitting them and preventing either side to go forward. There was surges and the police lashed out with truncheons. The two girls I was with and myself got pushed right into the police and one of the girls got a nice whack in the hip. I got screamed at to get back by an absolute irate copper, it seemed to me they were immediately hitting out at anyone whether they were provoked or not. I did not enjoy a truncheon inches from my face. The crowd slowly moved backwards then started running the opposite way from the police line, which is when Tesco's got looted and two HSBC windows were smashed in. I don't condone these actions. I don't see how trashing public property fits in with the purpose. Also, regarding the "storming of RBS". What a set of morons! Yeah, let's trash something that WE - THE TAX PAYERS - OWN. I seriously love my taxes going towards the actions of people with no cause looking for trouble. Also, notice their Nike hoodies, their Baseball caps etc. Yep, fuck capitalism guys!
I can't make my mind up about the whole thing. I'm for and against the views of these "anti-capitalists". The thing is, how can I put my faith in a bunch of idiots who are fighting capitalism with slogans from corporate America on their attire?!
There truly were people there fighting peacefully for the cause, for their beliefs. I'm sorry that the groups of ignorant, poorly educated, angst ridden teenagers have left such a bitter taste in a lot of peoples mouths. I'm also deeply concerned about the man who died, Ian Tomlinson. It's now come out that police assaulted him minutes before he died. As my friend said, "The police get away with stuff like that everyday, especially against football fans. I'm glad this has come out because it shows that the police have no accountability despite what they say and are no more than petty thugs. The police have no common sense, no remorse and no brains." I couldn't have put it better. I hope the scum that did this are tried for murder. Any "regular citizen" would be.
All this being said, at the end of the day I had an absolute blast! After we'd been kettled in on Bishopsgate for a good few hours, discussing with a - rather lovely - riot cop about why he does his job, we walked to London Bridge, sat at a bus stop waiting for a non-existent bus, flagged a taxi, stopped for chips then somehow walked to the house of the lovely girl who put us up for the night and hung out with us. I'd like to add that 3/4 of a litre of vodka has only provided me with those details. The whole day is very blurry. I keep having flash backs and found a photo on my phone of Sophie and Katie with an anarchy placard, sprawled on a wall. I also have bruises all over my legs. The next day we walked around London, got the Tube to St. James' Park and played with pigeons and the coolest squirrel ever. Good times :)
Amazing photo’s here:
http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2009/04/protests_at_the_g20_summit.html
