Saturday’s anti war rally was a mixture of peaceful protest and police antagonism. There were banners for Peace, Hare Krishna’s singing and giving away free food and passionate speeches from Julian Assange, George Galloway and Jeremy Corbyn amongst others.
After the speeches the rally moved to 10 Downing Street for a peaceful protest outside. As we started to move off, the STWC stewards formed a line at the front of the procession to lead the march. I have volunteered for this in the past and have felt how charged the energies are. It was a real mix of ages, colours and sexes on this protest and I was struck by how many young people had turned out to make their voice heard. As the procession started to move the police formed a line behind and were telling people to move out of the way. As our camerawoman and myself tried to move a Police Medic- yes that’s right Police Medic- remember that- shoved me forcefully. As I was walking, as I was moving, with no eye contact, no obvious judgement of the situation, just a rough shove so that I nearly fell onto the person in front of me who was also trying to move. Are these the new tactics we are expected to get used to?
What I was sensing already and this was different from other peaceful protests I had been on was the level of Police hostility. I could not see anyone with anything that would make them seem armed, I did not see any cans of lager, did not smell any dope and there was no hint of aggression in the crowds. I was certainly not giving off that air and yet here they were treating us all as if we were unruly animals that needed to be herded.
This behaviour only amplified when we reached 10 Downing Street. As the crowds gathered round and shouted slogans of illegal war and no to war, the police started rushing in and climbing onto walls and bollards outside No 10 with long lenses cameras and photographing everyone in the crowd. Others were taking down notes of people, what they were wearing.
None of these people were violent; none of them were threatening to be violent. I was filming in the middle of the crowd and I did not feel unsafe or like something would kick off. So why were the Police using such heavy handed techniques. If I see a police officer taking my photo when all I am doing is exercising my right to Free Speech that instantly makes me feel attacked in some way. Like my rights are being trampled on.
Pretty soon the usual tactics were being employed. One by one the yellow jackets started to close in. Like a scene from The Birds, you turn around and you are suddenly surrounded by police. So within a few minutes the whole length of the road from Trafalgar Square to beyond Downing Street was lined with Police officers.
The protests and chanting continued and across the road others had gathered. We crossed the road and witnessed a passionate group of Middle Eastern men waving flags and chanting: Free Free Egypt, Free Free Syria, Free Free The Middle East. They were shouting from their hearts, they were shouting with a yearning for Freedom. It was mesmerising to watch.
After a time as the crowds dispersed a bit we decided to cross back over to 10 Downing Street. As I went to put my foot on the road a large police officer told me I was not allowed to cross the road. Why I asked. Because I say so he said. Why can’t I cross the road I asked, I want to go to that side of the road. I say so and he started to stand in front of me. No one is allowed to cross this road you have to stay here. Just at that moment a group of people crossed over the road- what like them I said, they just did. He said nothing. Are you telling me I am not allowed to cross the road I asked him. He sighed and rolled his eyes and had nothing to say. Why I asked again can those people cross the road and I can’t. He said nothing. I moved away, either he just didn’t like the way I looked- I was wearing a long padded coat and carrying a large rucksack with our filming kit in it. Maybe it was that! I walked away still none the wiser as to why I had just been stopped.
Further down a man was being dragged from the pavement into a police van packed with about 5-6 police men. He had crossed his arms and straightened his legs. 2-3 officers were dragging him into the van. People gathered round. Why is he being arrested? Where is he being taken? Some people knew him and told him to be strong. I asked one of the passersby what had happened. He was going to cross the road and they told him he could not step onto the pavement on this side of the road. When he asked why they said they would arrest him. So he sat down and refused to move and they arrested him. Well did I just escape arrest then for the same thing? This was ridiculous. The police were stopping ordinary citizens from crossing the road at the traffic lights at will. With no justification. What was going on, when had these types of powers been given to the police and why was the public never informed of this?
I finally made it back to the Holy Grail- outside 10 Downing Street- to find a small crowd gathered around a young woman who was sat on a pavement. Somewhere near her a man was speaking into a camera about what had just happened. I asked him to explain, he said the woman was a 17 year old girl; she had been hit over the head with a police baton. Why I asked. Because she was asked to cross the road and as she was doing this the police man hit her. The same Police Medic who had pushed me so roughly was now standing near her. What was going on here? Why were people being manhandled, beaten over the head, arrested, pushed at a peaceful protest? There was no violence; there was no sense of danger of violence from the crowd. The only sense of danger I got was from the Police, who seemed hyped up.
After an incredible interview with a very passionate speaker, we decided to stay around for a while and catch snatches of Police conversations as they stood in lines around us. The gists of conversations were along the lines of being fed up, wanting to go home and wanting the protest to end. Oh just hurry up and go home. Said one officer behind me to some people who were singing protest songs.
Finally after a while there was a small group left outside Downing Street. An officer came up to me to tell me if we did not all move we would all be arrested. Why I asked, I’m just standing here. You can’t stand in the road he said. Fair enough, can I go stand over there I asked. No he said. You can only go and stand in the designated protest area on the other side of the road. The what? The designated protest area? I asked him if this was not somehow a breach of my human rights, my right to free speech. He shrugged his shoulders and smiled. Dunno he said and walked off. When did freedom of expression get put into a designated area?
So we dutifully crossed over and stood on the other side of the road. About 10 mins later Officer R came up to me and told me I could not stand there. Why I asked again. Frankly I was tired of being told I could not stand on a pavement any more. You have to stand behind that bollard he said. I was leaning on the bollard. In front and behind was the difference of one foot. Why can’t I stand here I said. Behind me was a group of teenagers having a heated conversation with the Police about the same thing. They along with a father and his son had just been pushed across the road by Police who told them to go stand in the designated area or be arrested. The teenagers were saying the only reason they were not being arrested was because they were underage.
I looked at Officer R and said, I’m not with them. So I am not causing any trouble. I am standing here and watching the protest. No you are part of the group he said. What group I asked. I am standing here by myself. I am an individual, not part of any group.You are all the same he said. I am an individual I said again. When did we become a society that herded people into groups? This was becoming a real nuisance. Seriously, was it my padded coat?
I moved away after a while and stood in front of a wall a little further away from the teenagers and the police. After about 5 mins while I was talking to our camerawoman, the same insidious tactics started and like The Birds the Yellow Jackets started to creep round me. I now had a ring of police behind me effectively blocking me from going anywhere. I spoke a bit louder than usual and said I had noticed the insidious tactics and it made me think of cockroaches.
Officer R heard me- well I had had enough! And turned around. He looked at me and I looked at him, called him by his name (on his uniform) and said hello. I asked him if he enjoyed his job and he said no. He said he was going to be retiring soon. And leaving London I said, by the sea? Yes he said. I asked him if he thought that this is what he would be doing when he signed up all those years ago. No he said. We don’t want to be here anymore than you want us here. They take us away from what we normally do (he was in charge of policing pick pocketing in the area) and bring us here, and take all the police off the streets for the day. He told me he did not agree with the war but that if he ever made that view known publicly or went on an anti war march, in his own time he would lose his job. He would lose his job if he disagreed with Government Foreign Policy in his own personal time. Yes. He would lose his job!
He also told me that if there were enough stewards on these marches then there would be no need for as many Police. Good point. Why were there so few stewards? Has the STWC lost its momentum in recent years? I had seen few stewards on this march compared to all the others over the years I have gone on or stewarded on. The last steward I had encountered on the other side of the road had been oblivious to the call for us to move and instead as we were filming grabbed our camerawoman to tell her he liked her shoes and he had a pair just like those!
It was an interesting end to the day chatting to Officer R. He seemed tired of this whole set up, of telling people where they can and cannot stand and of being taken away from the work he wanted to do. When we finished chatting and I shook his hand and said it had been a pleasure I saw his colleagues look over at us and it wasn’t with approval. It was as if he had been caught with the enemy.
We have much to concern ourselves with here. Our freedoms are being eroded day by day. Right to protest, to free speech and somehow we have sleepwalked into allowing this to happen. "This is not a democracy, this is hypocrisy!" So said one of our interviewees.
I am not denying that the protests were charged, they were. People want an end to this War. The Police hold a responsibility to keep the peace, not to disrupt it. The biggest disruptive element for me was their behaviour. Behaviour sanctioned by our Government.How can the UK possibly wager war on other nations on the basis of bringing democracy to a nation when it so blatantly is destroying the foundations of democratic existence in its’ own country.
It is time for a serious change.
May the winds of change blow strong, clear and with dignity.
