To be honest at first I had a chat with a few plod and they were sound.
It wasnt until we got near the blockade that it all got tense. There are always certain tensions on these things and lets be honest at that age you are in a situation when the old bill are something to fight against so there is always a bit of an atmosphere. Admittedly the report isnt very balanced.
Police horses are fucking big when they charge though,
(Bonzodog29 is an unemployed sponge of the worst kind, Mon 4 Mar 2013, 13:36, 1 reply, 12 years ago)

I found it all rather terrifying.
I wasn't there to fight with the police and I didn't expect to be charged by them either.
( tangledupinblue hairy badge with moving eyes, Mon 4 Mar 2013, 13:39, Reply)

I agree,
And this is the point, once the police start to react in the way they did they become indiscriminant and people were getting badly hurt who did nothing against the law.
(Bonzodog29 is an unemployed sponge of the worst kind, Mon 4 Mar 2013, 13:46, Reply)

Yes, they do. They are trained to break up the crowd.
Sometimes people get caught out and sometimes innocent people get hurt. It is regrettable. What I take issue with is the statement from Tangles that the police were there to start a fight. They weren't. They got rushed, they reacted. That's all.
( Kroney, Mon 4 Mar 2013, 13:49, Reply)

Which I have to a certain extent agreed with,
However at no point are the police allowed to create collateral damage. You cannot make a statement to the effect that if you are on a demo you are fair game to a copper.
(Bonzodog29 is an unemployed sponge of the worst kind, Mon 4 Mar 2013, 13:51, Reply)

yeah you are
you know how a demo can turn out, therefore you should be prepared to be shoved in the back as you walk away triggering a devestating heart attack
( Naked Ape call me Caitlyn, Mon 4 Mar 2013, 13:57, Reply)

I phrased that badly
I don't mean that the police were there to start a fight, but at several points before that they gave the impression of a rather aggressive form of defence.
From where I was standing (which was quite near to where the orange smoke bomb was set off) the police attacked first.
( tangledupinblue hairy badge with moving eyes, Mon 4 Mar 2013, 14:02, Reply)

had the protestors been trying to push them back though?
You don't have to be punching and kicking to cause aggro.
( Windy Pig I'm naturally quite suspicious about the moon., Mon 4 Mar 2013, 14:06, Reply)

As I understand it the police forced a change to the planned route on the morning of the demonstration.
In order to facilitate this they lined the route with mounted officers.
The official line of the demonstration organisers was to stick to the revised route, however unhappy they were.
I'm not for one moment suggesting that there wasn't an element who intended to try to take the original route, but as I have repeatedly stated, the police were the ones doing the charging not the demonstrators.
We reached the fork in the route and, after all the argy-bargy, that is where the march ended.
( tangledupinblue hairy badge with moving eyes, Mon 4 Mar 2013, 14:11, Reply)

fair enough.
the charging through people's front garden thing is pretty inexcusable mind.
( Windy Pig I'm naturally quite suspicious about the moon., Mon 4 Mar 2013, 14:16, Reply)

Watch the footage.
You see how the riot police came in from behind the uniforms? That is because they were being held back in reserve. There was a line of normal policemen cordoning off a road. The riot police moved in because the crowd tried to force their way through the cordon. That is what happened. The police made no aggressive moves until your lot tried to force their way through. They were forced right back again and the mounted units moved into to disperse. That is standard riot control. It is still used today.

I'm getting sick of this conversation, now. I get that you didn't like it as you were caught in the middle and feel you didn't deserve it. The police were not there to start a fight. Your lot were. They got a kicking as a result and then bitched about it afterwards.

The end.
( Kroney, Mon 4 Mar 2013, 14:16, Reply)

Alright I've just watched again and I think you are referring to the bit around 40 seconds in.
You are correct that the riot police come from behind the normal officers.
I can't see any agression from the demonstrators before the push from the riot squad.
I'm not saying that people weren't trying to breach the cordon and take the planned route - I am saying that the police approach was disproportionate and overly aggressive.
The riot police were in evidence throughout the march, presumably as some kind of deterrent.
"My lot" were mainly families and college students and had no plans to breach any police lines.
( tangledupinblue hairy badge with moving eyes, Mon 4 Mar 2013, 14:27, Reply)

This

(Bonzodog29 is an unemployed sponge of the worst kind, Mon 4 Mar 2013, 14:52, Reply)