What should we do about kettling of protestors?

It seems that the police left an old van in the middle of the student demonstrators today in order to give themselves an excuse to kettle ("contain") the demonstrators.

Kettling is arguably unlawful detention, and a case is going to the European Court of Human Rights.
Hopefully, students who were kettled today will form a class action on legal aid (before it is withdrawn) to challenge the police action.

However, for the time being, if we are going to demonstrate, we had all better go prepared to be kettled for many hours.

So, here is a check list for demos:

• Sleeping bag.
• Bedroll
• Tent
• Food
• Drink - in a bottle that can contain urine when empty
• Shepee for the girls.
• Plastic bag for shitting into (NB Resist the temptation to throw filled bags as police lines. It is vital to be friendly to the police, as the Government will have to back down when the police refuse to do the politicians' dirty work for them.)
• Kettle, gas stove, tea bags, powdered milk, sugar (if taken) 
• Hand cranked mobile phone charger. 
• If kettled, organise. form groups of round about 8 people, get to know each other, talk about the situation, and elect a speaker. Get the speakers together to pass on ideas, and elect a main speaker for all the prisoners, who can seek to speak with the police commander. 
• Be mindful that people can be crushed in crowds.

The beauty of this is that kettle or no kettle, suitably prepared demonstrators may decide not to go home at 5 pm, which makes the success of the demonstration that much more likely. That is how they brought down the Berlin Wall, remember?

Student protests, if linked with unions, could lead to fall of the Government

This could well be significant day. Big student protests all over the country, both on the streets and  sit-ins in several universities. Mainly non-violent.
Too big for the media  to ignore, so they will have to distort instead.

The police abandoned an old police van (outdated markings) in the middle of the crowd, which was duly vandalised. It has been termed the #baitvan on Twitter - bait for the vandalisers, who gave the police an excuse to form a kettle, and also gave an excuse for servile media to diss the demos. More here.

It is alleged that officer U2128 repeatedly kicked a 15 year old girl. Hopefully pictures and/or video evidence will surface to bear this out. [Update: no they have not. I traced the U2128 story back to @TaobhCle: RT @Adam_S953:  Officer U2128 kicking 15yr old girl caught on camera. Chant of "your going on YouTube" #demo2010". This was RTd many many times, accounting for much of the
 #demo2010 activity.

I searched for @Adam_S953 and got "does not exist".
@santi_girl had had exchanges with @AdamS953 who it seems did originate the story, without having any evidence. @AdamS953 is at the moment unobtainable on Twitter. His unremarkable blog is here.

@TaobhCle seems to have protected tweets.

This does certainly show the desirability of checking sources. End of Update]


Some questions:
How much will the police operation cost?
How much will need to be set aside to police future policing operations?
How much will this extra expenditure cut into Osborne's budget cuts?
Did they think of this?
Have they thought how many more demos will occur, and of what magnitude, once the Unions get their act together and start demonstrations too?


Historically, Government tend to fall when students and workers get on the streets. Especially if the police harbour a sympathy for the protesters - which they surely will, since their own jobs are on the line.



Politically, there is massive  pressure on LibDem MPs to abstain, take a sickie or vote No on tuition fees. This raises the possibility of a Government defeat - which would be followed by a No Confidence motion, which the Government would probably win, but a precedent will have been set.

There is a real possibility of an early general election. The Green Party should be ready for that event, but more, we should be leading negotiations with progressives in other parties to see if we can elect a cross-party majority of MPs who can put forward a fully costed alternative to Osborne's insane butchery. The programme would focus on cancellation of large white elephant projects like Trident, closing tax avoidance loopholes and tax havens, and a clamp cown on tax evaders.

When I last put this forward, one influential Green objector simply asserted that the Coalition will run its full term. OK, it may. Alternatively, it may not. If it does not, and if it collapses as rapidly as a Samoan scrum, we need to be ready.

Moreover, even the fact that negotiations are taking place on an anti-cuts Alternative Coalition would put the fear of god into the Cleggeron. Which would be nice.

So this is big, and could be the start of something really big, politically.

Fair play and big respect for the students.

Kettling: How should we respond?

Jenny Jones (see piece below) mentioned that a few people had said that they are less likely to go on demonstrations after the police rioted at the G20.

This will please the Authoritarians that seem to be gaining ground in the British State, and is presumably what they want, but it would be a backward step for democracy.

We need to work out an effective, non-violent response to kettling.

Off the top of my head, a few suggestions.

1. Be non-violent, no matter what the provocation. Violence is the problem, not the solution.
   
2. Be Prepared. Come to all demonstrations with camping essentials: water, food, sleeping bag, shelter. Bring something to read, or a musical instrument.
3. Bring camera and videos, which have shown themselves to be so vital in the G20 killing. March pointing cameras at the police at all times. It doesn't even have to be a functional camera: if they think they are on film, it will have a calming effect. Yes I know it's illegal, but it is an unenforceable law.
   
4. Consider lying down close together if the police start to push forward. Remember the scene in Gandhi when they lay down to stop police horses? Horses refuse to walk over people. This needs careful consideration, because primates under orders may not be as squeamish as horses, and the plods could well be ready to trample us underfoot.
5. Talk to the police continuously; face to face, politely but firmly. Pour out all your thoughts and fears about the way the world is today, and how you want it to be. When you have said just about everything you have to say, let another protester take over. The point is, that 6 hours of listening to greenies, peaceniks, lefties and other alternative persons' weltanschauung is not your average plod's idea of a Saturday afternoon well spent.
   (Do not expect the police-person to respond or answer any questions, they are not allowed. Be polite and friendly at all times. You are trying to dissolve hours of brainwashing, and this will only happen if you are nice).
6. Sing together. Learn some songs. A few melodic songs with simple, easy to remember choruses. Seize the Day's "Go Round Mother Earth". "Give Peace a Chance". The Diggers song. Hum, like the Jews used to in the concentration camps. (It is ironic that our lives are all awash with industrialised music, but we have lost the art of community singing. Still, given that we have 6 hours of being kettled, this is the time to re-learn the skill)
   
7. Consider bringing a small kettle and a spoon to hit is with, At set intervals, beat the spoon against the kettle.
   
8. Extrude the trouble makers. Remember that the Black Block were in cahoots with the police in Genoa, ( A churchman, Don Vitallano Della Sala, reports having seen Black Block members emerging from a police van (La Repubblica, 22 July 2001, Le Monde, 24 July 2001)), and they are infiltrated to an unknown degree. The Authoritarians want our demonstrations to go violent, so as to discredit us. Assume that any preacher or actor of violence is an agent. Crowds are like amoebas: if ranks are closed between the violent one and the centre of the crowd, and loosened between the violent one and the police lines, the violent one/agent is pushed forwards. Advice to quieten down can also be effective, if given by enough people.
9. Continue to be non-violent, no matter what the provocation. Violence is the problem, not the solution.

As I say, these are just thoughts off the top of my head, to kick off a debate on how we should respond to the provocative police tactic of kettling.

Police "kettling" tactic must be made illegal

Ricky Knight and the Cops (good name for a band, Ricky - next time we must bring a set of gazoos for them)













Ricky not getting his banner past the nice cop








Drawing of nice cop holding Placard reading "Yes we can abolish nukes"




The Guardian has a report on the police tactic of "kettling" - penning protestors into an area and preventing them from marching. They have done this several times before in London, and they seem to think it is a good idea. Anyone with a GCSE pass in psychology, or to whom the word Hillsborough is familiar, will know that it is a stupid idea. It leads to fear, frustration and violence.

The peaceful, lightly policed Trafalgar Square demonstration was told that there was no violence or breakages in the Bank demo until the demonstrators had been kettled for two and a half hours. The Bank marchers were trying to get to Trafalgar Square to join the peaceful Stop the War march. There was little or no coverage of the peaceful march and rally. The media only reward violence with coverage.

The man in overall charge of the operation was Commander Bob Broadhurst. He must be made to justify his strategy. So far the courts have supported the kettling tactic, but this time we must get a mass of witnesses and specialists in crowd psychology and civil liberties to court in order to discredit and ban the tactic.

I had an entirely different experience with the police. I smiled at one officer at the edge of the march, and his face lit up. I asked a line of cops if they would arrest me if I took their picture. They said no, and one of them explained that the law against taking police photos had been brought in because some actors were publishing police faces on the web and asking people if they knew who they were and where they lived. This is clearly wrong, and the right response would be to find these websites and close them down if they contain threats of violence. Instead, they have brought in a law to forbid taking pics of any policeman (so a lot of newspapers are in breach of the law today). It is a bad law, because we can all break it by simply pointing our mobile phones at police. They cannot arrest us all.

After the first photo Ricky and I set off down Whitehall to get to our bus. Ricky was stopped by a polite and civil young officer who explained that placards were not allowed down Whitehall. Something about it might influence the weak-minded occupants of the House of Commons, they might get the idea that there was more to politics than claiming expenses, something like that.

I tried to get a picture of the policeman holding Ricky's placard, but unfortunately I am not yet in full control of my mobile phone, and missed the shot. In order to avoid disappointment I have rendered a line drawing of what the missed photo would have looked like. I let our a cheer when I took the picture, the nice cop looked embarassed and Ricky and I skipped down Whitehall with gleeful hearts, past ranks of police who were all smiling and smirking.

The point is that there is good policing and there is bad policing. April 1st shows them both in stark contrast. Kettling must be banned for peaceful demonstrations: people must always be allowed a way out. The penned protesters were pissing on the street. Not to mention the poor guy who died. Was he an asthmatic without his inhaler? Did he have a weak heart? Whatever the coroner finds, Commander Broadhurst must shoulder at least part of the responsibility for his death.

The point of all this is not that I am some pathetic middle class professional sucking up to the police. I am not, although it does help that I have had professional encounters with the police on plenty of occasions as a casualty officer, psychiatrist and GP, and usually find them very resonable. The point is that if and when the people believe that the time has come for them to exercise their right to replace the Government because the present lot has lost the plot, as happened in Iceland recently, then we need the police on side.

Tiananmen Square was a massive force for good, and the Chinese Government had to bring in forces from way out because they could not rely on local police to attack the demonstrators. It is when the human being within the uniform begins to see protestors as fellow humans who have a good set of points to make, that change happens.

We need to make clear the point of our demonstrations. Briefly and in essence, we need:
1 reform of the world's monetary system
2 work to decarbonise the economy
3 cancel the third world debt
4 demilitarisation
5 political and electoral reform

It is interesting that the police were at pains to break up the Climate Camp. It is only when demonstrations stop going home for a nice cup of tea at 5 pm that change comes about. And I confess that I was among those who did just that. But there will be other opportunities to assist in the coming months. La lutte continua

PS in chatting to the police, the issue of firearms came up. I mentioned the Green Party's policy of using more sniffer dogs to detect ammunition. He said yes they were great, but that dog units were expensive. I promised him that I would get the Green on the London Assembly on the case.

PPS Red Pepper Twitter reports that the police and ambulance crews who were treating the protester, in his 30s who so tragically died, were not pelted with bottles and sticks, as reported by the BBC. Who should we believe? In view of the police misinformation campaign around the Kingsnorth protest, when reported "police injuries" turned out to be wasp stings &c, not wounds inflicted by evil demonstrators, I feel inclined to believe Red Pepper.
I have just found this second eyewitness account that states that one or two plastic bottles were thrown from further back in the crowd, from people who were not aware of what was going on.

And here's a third testimony: My boss (yes, a senior manager at the bank I work at!) went over last night to see what was going on. He literally was next to the man who collapsed and died. He swears NO ONE was throwing a thing. And that the reason the police couldn't get to the guy was because the cops were using dogs against the protesters and the protesters were running away from them (towards where the guy was). Now interestingly, my boss said the guy looked about 50. The man who died went to the ground and started convulsing. So he seemed to think it was natural causes. But other than that bit, every single thing the police have said is wrong.

I will ask my boss to contact the solicitors, as he is a senior manager at the bank and a very unimpeachable source (in that the police can't say he was involved in any way or had any sympathies to the protestors - they can't just brush him off). But I won't hold my breath. He's a good man, but it may be too difficult for him to do (i.e. to stand up).


PPS Detailed, sound report here by the Big Green Factory. showing police provocation of peaceful demonstrators. I have filled in the card to join Liberty. I will send it off as soon as I am sure that they are going to take up the issue of police preventing demonstrators from exercising their democratic right of free assembly and freedom of speech.


More on kettling here.