ATS Special Report: The London Protests 26th March 2011 - The TUC & The 'Black Bloc'

Dear ATS,

As you may, or may not know, on the 26th of March this year, the largest protests since the early 90's happened on the streets of London. The TUC, or Trade Unions Council, organised the Unions to move out and protest against the ideologically motivated right-wing cuts to the public sector here in the UK. The mainstream media reported around 250,000 people turned out - we all know how reliable they are! It was more like 400,000, London was bursting at the seams.

The video featured below is my report, and first hand account of the protests on the day. I followed the 'south of the river' TUC march to Trafalgar Square, and then moved out to follow the 'Black Bloc'.

SECTION 1:

SECTION 2:

SECTION 3:


Pictures of the day... (I'm not sure why the pictures have been autocropped on the right hand side, I don't know how to fix this.)



Goldsmiths Students occupation of Deptford town hall. They'd been at it for a week before the protests!



One, two, three..... ZAPATISTA!!!

TUC MARCH IMAGES:

















TRAFALGAR SQUARE IMAGES:



These two fellows are ATS members! Props to you guys for showing up and making your message clear...



Memorise this flag, its' colours and what it stands for. You will be seeing a LOT more of this.



Where's Dick Cheney when you need him?

THE BLACK BLOC ATTACKS!











The Kettle is boiling!





















WHAT IS ANARCHISM?

Source: Wikipedia

Anarchists are those who advocate the absence of the state, arguing that inherent human nature would allow people to come together in agreement to form a functional society allowing for the participants to freely develop their own sense of morality, ethics or principled behaviour. The rise of anarchism as a philosophical movement occurred in the mid 19th century, with its idea of freedom as being based upon political and economic self-rule. This occurred alongside the rise of the nation-state and large-scale industrial state capitalism or state-sponsored corporatism, and the political corruption that came with their successes.

Although anarchists share a rejection of the state, they differ about economic arrangements and possible rules that would prevail in a stateless society, ranging from no ownership, to complete common ownership, to supporters of private property and capitalist free market competition. For example, some forms of anarchism, such as that of anarcho-collectivism, anarcho-communism or anarcho-syndicalism not only seek rejection of the state, but also other systems which they perceive as authoritarian, which include capitalism, capitalist markets, and title-based property ownership. In opposition, a political philosophy known as free-market anarchism, contemporary individualist anarchism or anarcho-capitalism, argues that a society without a state is a free market capitalist system that is voluntarist in nature.

The word "anarchy" is often used by non-anarchists as a pejorative term, intended to connote a lack of control and a negatively chaotic environment. However, anarchists still argue that anarchy does not imply nihilism, anomie, or the total absence of rules, but rather an anti-statist society that is based on the spontaneous order of free individuals in autonomous communities.

As you know ATS, the protestors known as the 'Black Bloc' (red and black flags, dark clothing) were labelled pejoratively as 'anarchists'. Often described as mindless thugs and hooligans intent on enacting threatening behaviour, causing criminal damage and general nuisance. For the most part, this is an accurate assessment - apart from the mindless thugs and hooligans part.

You see, to be a proper part of this movement, you will have to be at war with the corporatocracy we find ourselves in, in the UK and beyond. The 'Black Bloc' on several occaisions when I interviewed them stated "We are at war". Contrary to popular belief, their targets were NOT normal people, but rather the establishments and corporations associated with the rich and powerful. The Ritz, McDonalds, Starbucks, HSBC, Santander etc etc. Essentially, they are a LOT like YOU ATS! They reject the banks, they reject the 'mandated line' of so-called truth and acceptable public discourse, they reject 'normal' government.

These people are DEFINITELY not mindless or hooligan-like, as they were organised, well-prepared, had a plan of attack, and knew exactly what they were doing. My only real criticism is that they took on the police directly on a few occaisions - this is not acceptable, the police are not the enemy, only the tool.

On that point - and to further enhance my claim that the Black Bloc are intelligent, capable and motivated - the police were totally outmanuevred for most of the day. They couldn't keep up with the Black Bloc, and upon occaision, neither could I! They have a strategy that works against current police deployment methods, and is highly effective. Expect more of the same, and worse.

WHAT IS A CORPORATOCRACY?

Source: Wikipedia

The concept of corporatocracy is that corporations, to a significant extent "own" or have massive power over governments, including those governments nominally elected by the people, and that they exercise such power not by back-room conspiracies but by their enormous, concentrated economic power, and by legal in-the-open mechanisms (lobbyists, campaign contributions to office holders and candidates, threats to leave the state or country for another with less oversight and more subsidies etc). Oliver Stone captured "Wall Street, you know, you could say..runs the world. Wall Street, the pharmaceutical lobbies, the oil lobbies, they run our government"

This concept is why the TUC march morphed into something different. This concept is why young & older people, who are TOTALLY unheard, and totally disenfranchised, felt the need to get out onto the streets, and fight back against the REAL rulers of our so called 'Democracy'.

I saw many of you here on ATS toeing the government line on how we should respond to these citizens actions. You called them 'thugs' and 'hooligans' and 'morons'. Shame on you! If only you understood that this is the beginning of what many of you have been waiting for. The Rebellion.

They have a flag. They have an identity. They have an organisation. They have a 'New Model Army'. The have a plan. They have a goal.

All of these things are generally a necessity for a rebellion to take place, and now we are seeing the grass-roots of the growth towards that rebellion.

What did the TUC march achieve? Nothing. Straight after the march took place, a government spokesperson came out and said that "Nothing would change, we will not stop our program of 'cost-savings'." (Ruining peoples' lives.)

What did the Black Bloc achieve? Colonel Gaddafi himself noted that instead of suppressing government oppression in other nations, that perhaps we in the UK should sort ourselves out first. Although he's a nutter, he's right. The anarchist element here in the UK is rapidly beginning to highlight (aided by UKUncut, 38 Degrees and other groups) that the UK is NOT a free country, and is NOT a democracy. Because of their anger and militant actions the situation in the UK was highlighted to the world through TV, the internet and radio. People saw what was happening here, and whether they believed it or not, started asking the most important question of all.

WHY?

Why was all this happening now? Is there really fire where there's smoke? Could these protestors be right? Do "I" need to take action where I live?

This can all be summed up in this phrase -

"A riot is the language of the unheard." Martin Luther King Jr.

(Yes I've changed it in the video, it makes a little more sense then!)

Let the Flaming commence!

The Revenant.

I want to see the other pictures where these morons destroyed the small business store fronts along with everything else.

All I saw was vandalism, violence, and capricious behavior by a bunch of socialist wanna be revolutionaries who belong in jail.

Originally posted by projectvxn
I want to see the other pictures where these morons destroyed the small business store fronts along with everything else.

All I saw was vandalism, violence, and capricious behavior by a bunch of socialist wanna be revolutionaries who belong in jail.

Unfortunately, I didn't see ANY of what you describe. Obviously I was there, filming, and taking pictures... and not once did I see what you describe - but go right ahead - make the claims...

The Revenant.

reply to post by The Revenant


None of it eh?


There's no vandalism? no wanton destruction by a bunch of morons who fancy themselves revolutionaries?

149 charged over London demo violence

More than 200 people were arrested and 84 hurt when a small group of demonstrators broke away from Saturday's main rally.
The protest had attracted close to half a million people and was the biggest in the capital since protests against the Iraq war in 2003.
A group of several hundred masked rioters attacked the Ritz Hotel, smashed up shops and banks and started a bonfire in Trafalgar Square before police finally contained them.
Clashes in Trafalgar Square continued into the early hours of Sunday with police saying they came under "sustained attack" from bottle-throwing rioters. Police have launched a probe into the violence.
Earlier on Saturday, the march itself had drawn more almost half a million health workers, firefighers, teachers and their families, including children, to oppose the coalition's austerity measures.

These morons were running around like animals smashing anything they thought even remotely resembled a product of capitalism. Brilliant.

They should strip to nothing and toss their cell phones and live like the animals they are.

Originally posted by projectvxn
reply to post by The Revenant

 

None of it eh?


There's no vandalism? no wanton destruction by a bunch of morons who fancy themselves revolutionaries?

149 charged over London demo violence

These morons were running around like animals smashing anything they thought even remotely resembled a product of capitalism. Brilliant.

They should strip to nothing and toss their cell phones and live like the animals they are.

edit on 8-4-2011 by projectvxn because: (no reason given)

You stated that they attacked small, independent businesses - if you'd ever been to central London, you'd know there are very few of them left. Certainly, none were, or would have been attacked.

Secondly, one mans vandalism is another mans retribution. Symbols of capitalism were not attacked, symbols of the corporatocracy were - get your facts straight.

As for the 149 arrests - most of them were people from the protest group "UKUncut" protesting against tax-dodging peacefully by occupying Fortnum & Mason, an upper crust department store in central London. They damaged nothing. They hurt or threatened noone. They were promised protection by the police if they protested peacefully, which they did. And yet....

SOURCE: The Guardian

The group is baffled as to why Scotland Yard, which rejects claims of politically motivated policing, decided to charge its members, yet in previous peaceful occupations officers took no action. Video evidence reveals a senior officer assuring protesters on the day that they would not be detained upon leaving the store.

So, if I'm honest, your argument holds no weight and your points are nothing but ideologically motivated vitrolic rhetoric, which I find distasteful - especially when you compare people to animals. I suggest you go and drink a nice warm cup of tea my friend and calm down.

The Revenant.

reply to post by The Revenant


I have eyes to see and ears to hear my friend.

They were violent, rioting, and vandalizing business, the places where people WORK. To try to make their point..Whatever it was.

I'm not impressed by animal behavior.

Originally posted by projectvxn
reply to post by The Revenant

 

I have eyes to see and ears to hear my friend.

They were violent, rioting, and vandalizing business, the places where people WORK. To try to make their point..Whatever it was.

I'm not impressed by animal behavior.

Everything you say here is true, I wont argue against it. However, the implication you make that they are 'animals' still disturbs me, as it sounds rather fascist. Have you tried exploring why these people have done the things they have? Have you tried being open-minded and understanding the situation in detail? Especially as you're not British - you might learn something about a foreign culture....

The Revenant.

reply to post by The Revenant


I can read the signs. It's the same people doing that crap there who are trying to get riots started here and for the same reasons.

Union thugs

Commies

Socialists

Anarchists show up just to trash the place.

I used to be with these groups. I used to think they were right, I used to think I was one of them. Until I saw them trash a venue I worked at because the owner expected certain rules to be followed and they wouldn't "stand for the oppression". They were animals.

And since when is pointing out uncivilized behavior the same thing as being a fascist? Do you even know what fascist means or do you throw that word around to anyone who doesn't agree with you?

Edit:

I will say the same to you when it comes to the Tea Party and learning something about someone else's culture:

"Im proud to be left-leaning and a progressive liberal - if you are as well copy this into your signature show the TEA PARTY.....fascists"

Maybe ask someone who's in the Tea Party about the Tea Party. Let me ask you this, how can a group of similar yet loosely connected individuals under the banner of the Tea Party, all of whom advocate SMALL government, possibly be fascist?

You need a HUGE state apparatus to be a fascist.

Maybe this will help:

en.wikipedia.org...

Fascist governments forbid and suppress opposition to the state.[5]
Fascism was founded by Italian national syndicalists in World War I who combined left-wing and right-wing political views, but it gravitated to the right in the early 1920s.[6][7] Scholars generally consider fascism to be on the far right.[8][9][10][11][12]

Fascists exalt violence, war, and militarism as providing positive transformation in society, in providing spiritual renovation, education, instilling of a will to dominate in people's character, and creating national comradeship through the military service.[13] Fascists view violence and war as actions that create national regeneration, spirit and vitality.[14]

Fascism is anti-communist, anti-democratic, anti-individualist, anti-liberal, anti-parliamentary, anti-conservative, anti-bourgeois and anti-proletarian, and in many cases anti-capitalist.[15] Fascism rejects the concepts of egalitarianism, materialism, and rationalism in favour of action, discipline, hierarchy, spirit, and will.[16] In economics, fascists oppose liberalism (as a bourgeois movement) and Marxism (as a proletarian movement) for being exclusive economic class-based movements.[17] Fascists present their ideology as that of an economically trans-class movement that promotes resolving economic class conflict to secure national solidarity.[18] They support a regulated, multi-class, integrated national economic system.[19]

The concept of Fascism is anti everything you and I BOTH purport to stand for.

It is the utter removal of my individual identity to favor ONLY the identity of the state. It is the complete abolition of individual liberty, economic liberty, and the establishment of an all powerful state system.

I don't know about the EDL, but that is NOT what the Tea Party stands for. Nor what I stand for. From the start my stance and that of the Tea Party movement has been centered around Constitutionalism. While the Liberal left and the Republicans move toward their own brands of Statism(those who believe government always knows best).

Originally posted by projectvxn
TEA PARTY.....fascists"

Please note that at no point on here did I call the Tea Party fascists - that is the EDL I'm referring to in my sig. Please do not cherry-pick words to quote.

Rev.

reply to post by The Revenant


I'm just pointing out how loosely you use the term fascist without knowing what the hell you're talking about. And you're not just talking about the EDL, you're talking about the TP in your sig, which I used as an example of your ignorance toward what is and is not a fascist.

At least I have the decency to admit I don't know anything about the EDL.

Originally posted by projectvxn
reply to post by The Revenant

 

I'm just pointing out how loosely you use the term fascist without knowing what the hell you're talking about. And you're not just talking about the EDL, you're talking about the TP in your sig, which I used as an example of your ignorance toward what is and is not a fascist.

At least I have the decency to admit I don't know anything about the EDL.

I can assure you I know what the term fascist means. And I can assure you I know what the Tea Party is, is not, and what it USED to be, and is not now. You can assume whatever you like about my signature, I've explained myself to you once, you haven't accepted my explanation, and you're now being insulting.

Please do not troll this thread further.

The Revenant.

reply to post by The Revenant


Troll?

So disagreeing with you is trolling?

Paring your accusation that what i say sounds "fascist" and calling you out on your own ignorance to things is now trolling? Using examples from your own misrepresentation of the Tea Party as fascists is trolling?

Cute.

Originally posted by projectvxn
reply to post by The Revenant

 

Troll?

So disagreeing with you is trolling?

Paring your accusation that what i say sounds "fascist" and calling you out on your own ignorance to things is now trolling? Using examples from your own misrepresentation of the Tea Party as fascists is trolling?

Cute.

edit on 8-4-2011 by projectvxn because: (no reason given)

Once the moderators have actioned my request, I will modify this post to post some useful follow up information about the topic, rather than fill up the thread with pointless bickering.

**Thank you DTOM**

Back on topic...

The UK Uncut group are planning more and more protests in the UK currently - utilising peaceful occupations and direct actions. I noted with interest that the 'Black Bloc' are loosely affiliated with UK Uncut and share members. It is interesting that UKUncut protested completely peacefully, yet the others in the Black Bloc did not. Does anyone have any theories?

The Revenant.

Attention!!!

As a reminder, members should discuss the topic and NOT each other.

--Off Topic, One Liners and General Back Scratching Posts--

Mod Note: Please Stay on Topic

and, MOD NOTE: ALL MEMBERS: We expect civility and decorum within all topics - Please Review This Link.

Does anyone else have any videos or pics they can add to this thread about the protests in London on March 26th?

The Revenant.

#ing NWO

reply to post by The Revenant


Note: I was with The Rev for part of the day covering the protests for Demotix. I am a freelance photographer and member of the BAJ (British Association of Journalists). I can vouch for his unbiased and honest reporting of the events on March 26 2011 in London.

Hello my revolutionary friend! I hear your call and will answer with pics posted to this thread in due course. Firstly, this is the first time that I have seen your footage and am very impressed with what you took. Unless seasoned in covering these kinds of high octane protests, it can be very difficult to report the story. However, you held your nerve and have produced some very good video and commentary.

A lot of strange things were happening on March 26. Initially, the policing of Black Bloc was more political than controlling. You could hear boots on the ground radioing for advice and being told to let the protesters march as they target one capitalist symbol after the next. This changed a few hours into the melee of direct action as riot police upped their game with, at times, unnecessary force. I was witness to this and on more than one occasion nearly caught up in it. At no time were small independent businesses targeted - never.

I say political policing, because a wave of direct action swarming through the streets of London would garner more media attention than a peaceful TUC march. This would serve the coalition well and detract from the anti-cuts message of the main march.

Journalists were targeted by police and anarchists. The anarchists were more concerned about images of their actions being taken and I have no idea why the police arrested photographers and at one point 'kettled' myself and six other colleagues. A Times staffer was arrested for police obstruction and promptly de-arrested after complaints from other photographers. Here is a link to a colleague's story about being arrested by the police. I was there when it happened and still can't believe what went on. Press Photographer Attacked by Riot Police

To reiterate what The Rev said about the arrests on the day. The vast majority were from a peaceful protest group called UK Uncut who were told that they wouldn't be arrested if they left the department store when told to. There are ongoing investigations as to why the police lied.

It could be argued that the UK has lived in relative apathy when it comes to demonstrating. The events of March 26 were indeed some kind of litmus test for the anger felt towards the austerity measures. Where we go from here, I don't know. However, I am sure direct action as opposed to peaceful protest will be the order of the day.

These are my photos from the day ...

reply to post by LarryLove


I thank you for the kind comments Larry - and the fantastic take on things, and pictures - of which I particularly love the shield in the face picture.

I'm looking forward to our next collaboration - it'll be an interesting one...

Rev.