Posted on 04/01/2009 12:32:28 PM PDT by Notoriously Conservative
Demonstrators broke into and looted a branch of the Royal Bank of Scotland. This footage from the Telegraph shows anarchists menacing a large force of British police, who react passively:
(Excerpt) Read more at notoriouslyconservative.com ...
I guess these folks are “stepping it up a notch” actually breaking into a bank. I just wish these youngsters weren’t so guided by their idealistic thoughts that ALL government (even LOCAL leaders) is evil. Of course, that’s if these folks really ARE Anarchists. Nowadays, who the heck knows! Could be Communist Agent Provocateurs mixed into the crowd to start the violence...
Yeah well I was there at mid-day at the Bank of England. Almost all the demonsrators are regular people. There are a few trouble makers but they are easy to spot. The police are there in bulk force and are menacing in behavior and attitude. Clearly they had orders to hem in all the demonstrators and keep them in one place all day long so there are no small gangs running around the city destroying property. Actually the police attitude and tactics are inflamatory and it would certainly be reasonable to expect a backlash from the committed anarchists.
I would estimate that by 1 pm there were probably 5000 police and 50,000 demonstrators, which diminished later in the day. The police now have trapped a core of about 4000 of the anarchist types and are not letting them leave, so they have been there for about 8 hours, and no doubt are getting grouchy about it.
One thing is for sure - this demonstration brought the heart of London to a complete halt. Streets were closed off to traffic. Most shops and businesses were closed or hardly active.
By the way the communists are indeed active in the protests - they were handing out Socialist Worker newspaper. Also the more hard line Communist Party of Great Britain was there and active too.
The thing is, the action from the US and UK governments represents national socialist communal policies dressed up as liberal democracy.
What aggravates the regular people over here to protest is that the banksters mismanaged the economy, while the government failed in regulation and oversight. Now the bail-out solution is going to line the pockets of the fraudsters who caused this and prop up rotten financial institutions, without really helping the people who are losing their jobs, savings, retirement funds, houses worth less, etc.
the crowds were chanting “Abolish Money!” The assembled pols are doing their best to comply...
Thanks for the “on-the-spot” real coverage. Much better to rely on than anything we would ever hear on the news. I don’t doubt that the police are “ramped up” as well as the protesters. It’s never a good mix. As for the 4,000 or so committed ones who are now stuck there it strikes me, like you said, that the longer they hold them there the higher the likelihood of violence is... No human (no matter what their ideology or “issue”) wants to feel caged by people with guns for merely wishing to protest. The self-preservation instinct would likely kick in and combined with anger that brought them there in the first place it’s not a good thing... It’s like taunting a lion...
I did have a question... You said most of the folks are “regular people”. Does this mean they aren’t wearing the face coverings and black garb familiar to Anarchist protests? I’m curious if you saw any anti-WOT type signs and such (were some of the people ANSWR types that come to all the protests here in the US — they are a part of the World Communist “community”?).
OOPS — though of one more question. I haven’t looked through all the photos of the protests and such yet — are the British police in full riot gear, and ARMED? Can the police still be armed in Britain? Isn’t it true that regular police — like when they walk their beats - do not have firearms? Just curious what the provisions are when they come up against large groups of agitated individuals. Surely they have some kind of weapons besides tear gas, and firetrucks (are there any of those there yet? LOL).
ROFL... I was just asking about that and hadn’t seen your post! I figured they would be there - they ALWAYS are! You’d think they’d be happy with the way things are progressing in the world regarding Communism — especially with what Obama is doing in the US... Why are they still protesting? LOL
I agree with everything you’ve said. I think the Socialists/Communists taint these protests, and people who really “get it” are getting their complaints lost in the propaganda. It wouldn’t surprise me if the Commies did this type of thing on purpose to confuse the public into thinking that the protesters are the “bad guys”, when the majority of people — like you said — are there because what our governments are doing is anathema to liberty, and freedom, and prosperity!
My husband was laid off last week, so I completely understand your frustration, and that of our friends in Britain! The whole civilized “Western” world is suffering because of these COMMUNIST efforts to take over our economy, and our countries...
I may sound like I am completely biased against these protesters, but I’m really not (just the Communists among them! LOL). The anarchists mean well — they just feel the weight of the “state” a little more heavily than the rest of society I think. I don’t think they view human nature as a factor in their ideology though. Anarchism (like socialism incidentally) SOUNDS really good, until you think through the consequences of actually running a society in that way...
LibertyRocks,
I am sorry to hear about your husband’s job loss - I too have had a few jobs drift away from me, ones that I would have liked to keep, but I am in the oil business, and we are a carniverous industry.. if your company gets bought, it is usually the buyers who keep the jobs. Just keep chipping away at it and another door will open to the next job.
Re your question about how the police in Britain are equipped - I did not see any guns. They had riot gear, some of them, but mostly just cuffs and batons. The batons they use extend to about baseball bat length so they are formidable and the police are quick to use them if they feel threatened. The London police are experts at crowd control and they form these lines that are used, with vehicles strategically parked, to cordon off large areas. So they just go to pushing and shoving. There were no tear gas or water cannon units that I saw, but I did see a vehicle full of police dogs. That is when I decided I needed to clear out, that the police were clearly spoiling for a fight.
Re your question about the communists - they seemed to me to be the tag-a-longs at the protest. The looney types with painted faces etc were a distinct minority. The anarchists are also a small group but dangerous, and they are the ones the police were most focused on - easily identifiable by their black/red triangle flags, face masks, black clothes and bad attitudes. But the vast majority of people there were regular folks, many on their lunch hour who came to see the event, lots of older folks, environmentalists and such.
My hotel is at Grosvenor Square, right around the corner from the US embassy. I went out for a cup of coffee this afternoon and one of the protests was forming up over there - this one was a mix of muslims, environmentalists etc, and I saw an older man and woman crossing the street to head over to the gathering with a huge orange banner that said, I kid you not:
“Quakers for Justice”!!
Thank you. We’re no strangers to layoffs with my husband being a machinist, but there aren’t many other prospects for jobs right now...(The last time he was laid off was in 1994 under Clinton) And now, EVERYONE around here is laying people off left and right. We’ve been told it’s “Temporary”, but no word on when they expect to call him back... They said one week, then Monday said “take this week off, too”. Frustrating to say the least. He’s a VERY good machinist (very close tolerance/prototype/precision) and even has management and supervisory experience, but even so, if there are no orders coming in and the industry is stalled, there’s not much one can do...
Thanks for answering all my various questions about the protest! Very enlightening. I got a kick out of the “Quakers for Justice” sign! LOL Pretty interesting that there was such a wide variety of people there...
Stay safe!
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