|
MAYDAY : WEAPONS OF MASS CONSTRUCTION
May 2 2003 |
Mayday 03: "Serious Disruption To The Business
Community"
Around the world people were out on the streets
celebrating Mayday. In
London the stage was set for a series
of protests making the links between Arms and Oil as well as other issues (see
ourmayday.org), with further
protests set for Glasgow, Edinburgh,
Manchester, Liverpool,
Leicester, Bradford and beyond. London's Metropolitan police had issued "advice"
to companies and City police were running their own timeline
until 7:20pm when "no demonstrators within the City boundary" were left. In the
days building up to Mayday there had also been a series of supporting actions
and protests by Campaign Against The Arms Trade. This Mayday was also the
3rd birthday of Indymedia UK.
The annual Trade Union march to Trafalgar Square continued to gather support this
year, with Globalise Resistance, Stop the War Coalition, War on Want, World
Development Movement, and the TUC
coming together to oppose war, racism and privatisation. In joined as well the
Socialist Stockbrokers, and in the City of London people vacuumed up after capitalism.
Press hysteria surrounding the protests has been at a lower level than in previous
years, although there have still been a flurry of articles and some terrible journalism
/ propaganda (1 | 2
| 3)
Bristol: Dozens of protesters outside the army
careers office at around 15:40.
Also in Bristol, the Labour Party headquarter was occupied
early this morning. 5 protesters were arrested.
Glasgow: Mayday celebrators occupy a petrol station in the Southside of Glasgow.
Sheffield: Sheffield STWC staged a visual display
of photos of people protesting all over the world outside the Town Hall at 5pm.
There is another Mayday demonstration in Sheffield on Saturday, details are on
the Sheffield
Against War website. Pictures
Wrexham: Mayday protestors in Wrexham urged
passing motorists to boycott
McDonalds with a banner hang.
London Timeline of Events
10:13pm More than an hour later and people are still
being released, some searched and photographed.
9:17pm Almost half an hour later, police are still
letting the crowd out one at a time and dispersing them - but now there is a spitting
rain
8:50pm Centre of Trafalgar Sq.: Riot police are identifying
and arresting people from inside the cordon. 50 people have already been arrested
and taken away in vans; a bus has arrived to get more. The charges are unknown:
no one can even approach the scene to ask. Those who are not arrested are body
searched and identified, then escorted out of the scene by riot police.
8:46pm Cordoned people are allowed out one at a time,
escorted by and dispersed at Embankment tube (video).
Also. a group of 8 is reported to be beaten up in St. James's (not clear if this
is a report of the same group mentioned at 8.15).
8:39pm Piccadilly: 30 protestors have sat down at
the fountain of Eros. FIT (Forward Intelligence Team, i.e. police with cameras)
and a few riot police are looking on.
8:34pm In the middle of Picadily Circus, some protestors
are surrounded by riot police - legal observers are with them.
8:15pm Riot police go after against people who run
off towards Picadilly via Pall Mall with the sound system. Once there, about 15
demonstrators get brutally beaten up by police.
8:08pm While riot police charge in surrounding streets,
main group is still held at Strand, off Trafalgar Squate.
8:05pm Hundreds of riot police have cleared off the
square, while 20 more police vans are being deployed and more are getting ready.
They have also charged against people standing on The Mall. Protestors see it
as a wild over reaction by police.
8:04pm Two more arrests made: one in Trafalgar Sq.
and the other in Charing Cross Station. Police haven't disclosed the charges.
7:58pm Riot police are moving into Trafalgar Sq (video).
Some people break away from the containment including sound system.
7:50pm Whitehall and The Mall still sealed off completely.
The cordoned people are totally hemmed in on road into Trafalgar Square [webcam].
There is also another group of riot police moving in. According to BBC 24 news
there are 400 protestors and 4000 police
7:48pm Many reports of people beaten badly after the
square has been cleared. A considerable number of head injuries.
7:40pm Police without riot gear are clearing the square
- Riot police are waiting to move against the main group.
7:30pm Police increased numbers and more are donning
the riot gear. The crowd of 1500 protestors is very fluffy but stands firm. Whitehall
and The Mall sealed off completely.
7:22pm Strand end: Riot police forming up in front
of the surrounded crowd - many supporters outside the blocked area in Trafalgar
Square - Police put away their shields for some reason.
7:21pm Audio
report about people being let out from the cordon at the Strand end of Trafalgar
Sqare, then chased up and truncheoned by riot police.
7:15pm More arrests, more police changing into riot
gear (pics)
7:00pm Deadline for dispersal approaching (7:05pm),
police getting into riot
gear - (audio).
At the strand end, two cordons of police build up.
6:45pm Police attacked
camera crews, several arrests made.
6:35pm The Samba band joined the sound system - demonstrators
push through police line but are violently pushed back.
6:00pm Protesters still dancing in Trafalgar Square
.
5:20pm A group of stock brokers are rapping and breakdancing
in Trafalgar Square. Police have declared that protesters will have 2 hours to
disperse, then they will be forcibly removed.
5:10pm A "Section
14" order has been placed on about 400 protesters at the junction of Trafalgar
Square and the Strand (audio).
Police are giving protesters two hours to disperse completely, or face arrest.Hear
full text megaphone announcement of section 14 announcement.Unperturbed, people
are dancing to the music coming from a mobile sound system and a violinist.
5:00pm Police have lifted the Duncannon Street cordon,
but it appears they now want to surround the whole of Trafalgar Square, with around
1,000 people in it.
4:55pm Mounted riot police in Trafalgar Square are
now heading towards Whitehall.
4:45pm Some protesters were surrounded by police in
Trafalgar Square but managed to break out and are joining demonstrators coming
up Whitehall. A heavy police presence is holding back a crowd of 500 at Duncannon
Street, on the north east side of Trafalgar Square. The sound system continued
to play and police charged again.
4.40pm Trafalgar Square: The police charge against
the dancing crowd. Approx 700 protesters inside cordon at Strand end of Trafalgar
square have been ordered with section 14 of the public order act 1986: for disruption
of the business community. Meanwhile, one arrest on Duncannon Street. When asked
about the charges, journalists are pushed away.
4:30pm Parliament Square: Fluffy protest with people
stage diving from a crane into the crowd (pics).
Police are still trying to get protesters elsewhere to go to Trafalgar Square.
4.30pm Trafalgar Square: Protesters are still cordoned
in at the north east end by Duncannon Street (pics),
while a sound system arrives on a bike and the rest of the crowd in the square
dances to it (pics 1
| 2)
4:25pm Protesters pushed further down Charing X (audio
report).
4.20pm Approx 20 - 30 police vans and 2 rows of police
lines are blocking Whitehall.
4:10pm A demonstration numbering about 200 moving
down Charing X to Trafalgar Square is being "escorted" by 500 police and a column
of 60-80 riot vans. Police are pushing marchers into a very narrow lane and trying
to stop anyone from joining them. At present the Square is almost empty, but a
handful of people are heading down Whitehall, with dozens of riot vans in hot
pursuit.
4:00pm Protesters confuse police by running past
Trafalgar Square and towards Picadilly. Almost no police up there.
3:55pm A group of protesters has appear on Picadilly.
The cordon at Cambridge Circus has now been opened and protesters are marching
towards Trafalgar Square. It has been confirmed that one person was carried away
on a stretcher from the Lockheed Martin protest at 3 o'clock.
3:45pm Protesters outfox police by breaking into side
streets before being sectioned, and running towards Trafalgar Square.
3:40pm Having steered protesters towards Trafalgar
Square, police are now using force to stop them from entering it. Strand protest
now stationary at Adam Street, unable to reach TUC demo in the Square. Meanwhile,
police are getting heavy-handed at a sit-down protest at Cambridge Circus. Those
trying to break out of a cordon there are receiving "special treatment".
3:30pm Cordoned march arrived at Trafalgar Square,
but held at the North East end of it while other marches arrive to the square
from other corners and police start to line up at the entrances to the square.
(pics)
3:20pm Samba band and cyclists continue to elude police,
now heading south down Kingsway and dancing on the Strand. At Lockheed Martin,
police have released protesters from the cordons.
3:10pm The protest that started in front of Lockheed
Martin has been served a 'Section 12'
order to join the official march down Charing Cross and towards Trafalgar Square
- or face arrest. On hearing this, protesters staged a spontaneous mass sit-down.
On Shaftesbury Avenue, around 2,000 people are being forced to march or stop as
they are cordoned by two lines of police and followed by 20 police vans.
3:05pm Critical Mass and Samba band crossed through
Covent Garden, past the Masons' Lodge, and are heading towards Southampton Row.
Lots of dancing, drums, fancy dress.
2:57pm A demonstrator inside the cordon is smashed
against a fence and left unconscious. Police prevent journalists from photographing
the scene and those who protest are violently thrown into the cordon. When the
crowd is against forced to move one, there is no trace or news of the uncnscious
demonstrator.
2:55pm 5-10 people have succeeded in breaking out
of the police cordon around the Lockheed Martin protests. The rest of them are
forced to march or stop at Police's commnd as they are pushed slowly towards Trafalgar
Square.
2:45pm Critical Mass has joined the breakaway branch
near Charing X, and together with a samba band they a blocking the traffic with
music and dancing.
2:30pm A couple of hundred people have split off from
the main march down Shaftesbury Avenue (pics).
Nervous police are in hot pursuit. The group held in front of Lockheed Martin
on Endell Street is still cordoned off by cops.
2:25pm The police line dividing the two groups turns
into a closed
cordon. People are not let in or out in order to 'prevent a breach of the
peace'.
2:20pm The Samba Band livens up the demonstration
and people join and start marching down Shaftesbury Avenue (pic).
Police split up the crowd by charging the end of the march.
2:15pm Around 600 people have gathered outside the
offices of arms manufacturers Lockheed
Martin in High Holborn. Demonstrators have blocked the traffic and are shouting
anti-war slogans. Atmosphere is calm but large numbers of police and surveillance
teams are in the area. (pics)
1:50pm The Trade Union demonstration was joined by
Socialist Stockbrokers!
1:30pm The TUC march
has now reached Holborn. Large numbers of police are in the area and reports of
Kingsway being blocked off by police lines. Reports of a few demosntrators being
stopped and searched by the police for wearing masks.
1:20pm Reports of one arrest for criminal damage and
posession of an offensive weapon in Regent St.
1:15pm Critical Mass has now stopped and having a
rest in St. James' Park (pics).
They plan to move on shortly.
1:00pm The Trade Union March from Clerkenwell Green
set
off.
1:00pm Reports coming in that all bus routes from
Totehnham Court Road to Holborn have been stopped. Hundreds of commuters are currently
stranded in central London.
12:47pm Critical
Mass has now stopped outside Downing St and people are dancing
to the sounds of the mobile sound system.
12:45pm Thousands are marching in the Trade Union's
demonstration from Clerkenwell Green (audio
and pics 1
| 2).
2 police helicopters are now hovering over the demonstration.
12:00pm Critical Mass participants has now increased
to 300 cyclists and a mobile sound system. It has now reached Fleet St in The
City where traffic has been blocked.Guilfin picture
gallery.
11:30am Critical Mass has now set off with around
200 ciclists taking part. (pics)
11:00am 150 people are assembling outside London's
South Bank NFT for the Critical Mass bycicle ride.
10:30am People are demonstrating against fur trade
and for animal rights outside Dolce & Gabanna, in Old Bond Street and then moved
on to Selfridges in Oxford Street (pics
| audio 1
and 2)
10:00am Around 4,000 police are on stand by in London
for today's protests, whilst many shops and business in London's West End, Mayfair
and The City have been boarded
up through the night (report).
Other London Reports
- Pre-emptive Mayday Action at Bechtel's
HQ in Hammersmith.Full
report
- Mayday protest at Victoria exposes Crown Agents' role in war profiteering.Full
report
- Brutal Repression by the Metropolitan Police - eyewitness
account
- Assorted photos
released by Associated Press and Reuters from Mayday london.
- Zapatista MayDay action outside Mexican embassy in London. Report
and photos.
- May Day - a taste of freedom, a personal
account
Global Reports
Sweden
| Thessaloniki
Mayday Archive:
Mayday 2002 | Mayday
2001 | Mayday 2000
Edinburgh
Glasgow
For international Mayday reports check www.indymedia.org
Meet up at 3:33pm Tottenham Court Rd.
MAYDAY April 31st UNFOOLS DAY 2003
RABBI AWAL 1424 / IYYAR 5763 / BELTANE 404
http://www.anticolony.org.uk/MAPS/babylondon00.jpg
Combat trouserism w:w
ith a thousand qubit run for freedom to the
British Museum where we will unmake Adam.
http://www.anticolony.org.uk/MAPS/center00.gif
When ellen craft escaped slavery in america she did so by disguising
herself as a white middle class man. this is precisely the identity,
that of the ruling class, that is presented as the perfected model of
liberation.
http://www.bloomington.in.us/~cathy/eclongway.mp3
the myth of Adam, the first man, not born of woman but created
by a
male god is precisely the original myth that patriarchal capitalism
fuels itself with. and it is the Dome of the Rock, where legend has
it, god fashioned Adam from clay, where this myth is to be unmade.
http://www.templemountfaithful.org/conf.ram
Crusaders maps would place Jerusalem at the centre of the world
and
this psychogeographical configuration is encoded into the masonic
architecture of London with the British Museum taking up its place as
the cultural hub of the barbaric imperial civilization.
http://www.anticolony.org.uk/MAPS/tubecropped.gif
the ancient artifacts looted from what was once Babylon, which
will
be brought back to the heart of empire serve to renew precisely this
illusion thru the traditions of BLACK ARTS and WHITE SCIENCE
The war against trouserism may be long and hard,
but victory is certain - - it's as if it's already happened!
Follow the drinking gourd,
Follow the drinking gourd,
For the old man is waiting
for to carry you to freedom
If you follow the drinking gourd
When the sun comes back
and the first quail calls,
Follow the drinking gourd,
For the old man is waiting
for to carry you to freedom
If you follow the drinking gourd
The riverbank will make a very good road,
The dead trees show you the way,
Left foot, peg foot traveling on,
Following the drinking gourd.
The river ends between two hills,
Follow the drinking gourd,
There's another tree on the other side,
Follow the drinking gourd.
Where the great big river meets the little river,
Follow the drinking gourd,
The old man is waiting,
for to carry you to freedom
If you follow the drinking gourd
