Democratic Right to protest - you must be joking!!!
See how the Authorities react to a peaceful CARNIVAL:
(Illegally penned-in by police: this contravenes the European Human Rights Act,
the right to free assembly & the right to freedom of expression)
WHOSE STREETS? |
It was billed as a 'Carnival for Full Enjoyment', &, you know me, a small kid at heart, I love such playful expressions of human creativity. So, like a fool, I followed the pink & silver SAMBA BAND, with my red, green & yellow whistle....it was all very colorful - we even had a contingent of fashion-conscious continental kids in co-ordinated black hoodies & black bandanas, & a dedicated few carried rather fetching black flags!
Seemed like a bit of innocuous fun, an al fresco frolic, little more (or less) than vaguely symbolic street theatre...that is, till the villains of the piece arrived...
Assembling at W.Maitland Street (not far from the west end of Princes Street), a peaceful, orderly procession moved off (with police permission) down Torphichen Street, and was then directed by mounted police into Canning Street. Before we knew it, riot police had blocked both ends of the street & we were penned in. Ambushed!
A senior police officer made a loud-hailer announcement invoking Secion 14 of the Public Order Act 1986 as justification for the police cordon, which effectively detained over 200 people against their will.
However, he made a MISTAKE! He cited the WRONG LAW to justify the cordon, because not only does Section 14 P.O.A. NOT authorise the use of cordons, it doesn't even apply to PROCESSIONS (Section 12 is the relevant section). This must surely call into question the legality of the cordon.
The police were out in force. Their overtime bill must have been enormous. To justify such profligate expenditure of tax payer's money, they had to fulfil a quota of arrests. They were looking for trouble &, if they couldn't find it, by golly they'd create it.
Riot cops cause riots. That's their job.
Only sadists need apply.
They know they have the upper hand. They're good at making others feel bad. It's like a game or sport to them, & they get paid for it.
****
[Fashion note: have you noticed how British soldiers in Basra don't wear helmets, but Riot police in Britain do?! They also wear masks but forbid demonstrators to do likewise...]
| "What we are seeing in Britain is the rise of the democratic police state." - John Pilger, August 2005 |
| These Bully Boys Defend Democracy? NO! Police protect their Masters & the Status Quo... |
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Police took souvenir snapshots while newspaper hacks interviewed bystanders... |
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After my arrest, looking out the back of a locked prison van, I see a gang of policemen posing for a group photo. They are LAUGHING & JOKING & sipping cans of Coke. A job well done, boys. Testosterone is everywhere in evidence. They probably used other 'performance-enhancing' drugs too: adrenaline, caffeine, sugar, meat certainly, speed maybe...&, did I mention, arrogance, aggression.... [WILL FILL IN MORE DETAILS AFTER MY TRIAL...]
Three hours later, while waiting quietly to be let out of Canning Street, I am arrested for 'breach of the peace' ( & me a pacifist!). Somehow, after 25 HOURS in custody, this has mysteriously evolved into the following, detailed (& totally erroneous) charges:
"
on 04 July 2005 at Canning Street, Edinburgh you….[list of names] DAVID KING…[list of names continued] did form part of a mob of evilly disposed persons which acting of a common purpose did conduct itself in a violent, riotous and tumultuous manner to the great TERROR* (my emphasis)and alarm of the lieges and in
* 'TERROR'? Well, they use the Terrorism Act against demonstrators, don't they?! See how they are conflating any kind of dissent with terrorism? breach of the public peace and (with faces masked or covered) shout and swear at police officers, refuse to move on when requested by police officers so to do, throw missiles and street furniture at police officers forming a cordon there, push a wheelie bin towards said police officers, link arms and charge ranks of police officers and attempt to break through said ranks of police officers, repeatedly attempt to punch and kick and struggle with police officers, seize police equipment, inter alia hats and handcuffs from said police officers, and damage same, sit on the ground and obstruct police officers, run up and down lines of police officers and threaten to urinate and defacate (sic) on them and change your clothing and appearance to avoid detection and arrest
"
There is an old-fashioned word for this:
The police are dishonest.
These malicious charges against me, which are a pack of lies from beginning to end, have still not been dropped nor have I been called to trial. They can have no valid evidence, because, I didn't actually DO any of the above, although I observed a few others engaged in some of the more minor activities detailed (eg sitting on the ground, which I fastidiously refrained from as I didn't wish to soil the white trousers I was wearing!)
Eg I was handcuffed in the back of a locked police van for at least 4 hours en route to the police cells.
Remember, I was a DANGEROUS |
Coming soon: more fascinating details about my arrest & imprisonment (25 hours before I was allowed to see a solicitor, denial of food & medical attention etc, the brutality & illegal behaviour of the prison staff etc etc; 29 hours before I was released on bail but effectively deported from Scotland so I couldn't take part in any further anti-G8 activity...)
| While in police custody, I was photographed, fingerprinted & my DNA stolen via an oral swab (cf Saddam Hussein) - before being charged, let alone found guilty of any crime. Presumed innocent? |
Before the War Criminal Blair's Regime makes this page illegal
on grounds of incitement to rebellion or something,
please note the following disclaimer:
NB This site condemns all terrorism, including STATE TERRORISM. Violence against the State is futile, since the power of the State partly consists in the overwhelming violence of the police & the military. * |
PS:
Screaming BANNER HEADLINES in the 'Edinburgh Evening News',
5 July
2005, referring to previous day's protests:
ANARCHISTS
'GO HOME'
(xenophobia, n'est-ce
pas, as if there aren't any Scottish Anarchists!)
THEY CAME LOOKING FOR TROUBLE…
THEY GOT
THEIR WISH
Then, the quiet understatement
in much smaller print:
G8 runs risk of
disappointing campaigners, says Brown
Now, I'd suggest that in terms of world impact, the latter is more important news.
Didgeridoo? Don't!
|
If that had been the main headline, it would have provided a meaningful context
for the former sensationalist report, & made sense of why people were demonstrating,
instead of
suggesting it was merely gratuitous.
In my experience, it really was the police who caused the trouble.
They obligingly fulfilled the prophecies of the tabloids
&
justified their overtime pay by arresting their quota.
I personally did NOT go 'looking for trouble', but they, the police,
caused me
no end of 'trouble' & got paid overtime for their 'troubles'.
(More will be added to this page, when I have the time & energy,
& as further developments unfold, so check back here...)
[photos by Davy King]
 .....STOP PRESS....Compare & contrast? Funnily enough (or rather not very funny), had I been a hot-headed Muslim
demonstrator carrying an aggressive placard that threatened beheading & bombing, I
would not have been arrested (London, 3rd February 2006). This
is a valid remark. There is some truth in it. It's not merely gratuitous. I'm not saying
it to be offensive, so keep yer Fatwa - I don't want it! Why do I mention it? Here's why: On
July 4th/5th/6th 2005, there was a massive police
presence north of the border, in Edinburgh, drawn from forces all over the country
including London. They were there to counter the deadly threat posed by pro-peace,
anti-poverty protestors, who were concerned about catastrophic climate chaos &
therefore opposed to the criminal policies of the self-appointed G8 gang. Hundreds of
people were arrested, yours truly among them. On
7th July 2005, 'Islamofascist' Fundamentalist bombs exploded in London...
|
( not much was allowed in Canning Street Edinburgh on 4th July 2005!)
