My career as an activist barely a year old, I’ve seen more than a few friends arrested at various demonstrations and events, often for the most ridiculous ‘offences’, including being in possession of tarpaulin on Parliament Square; another for passing food to a protester who had climbed on the Churchill statue opposite the Houses of Parliament.
I’ve been along to court with them, attended police station arrestee support, and generally learnt a whole lot about the entire process, watching trained legal observers, experienced activists and absorbing as much as I can about what the police are allowed to do in this context, lawfully (not a great idea to engage them unless you know your rights, I figure). It does seem at times their obligation to facilitate peaceful protest is not high on their list of priorities, and seeing City of Westminster police at their most heavy-handed, injuring my friends, I’ve lost any respect I had for the uniform. Many of us believe they even deliberately provoke trouble, in order to provide an excuse to shut down events or cast protesters in a bad light. I have my own theory for instance of who it was sprayed graffiti on the Women of World War II memorial, on 9th May – but that’s another story for another day. Thus, my first ever experience of being arrested last night wasn’t entirely unexpected. One doesn’t purposely go out looking for it, but it goes with the territory…
After marching from Trafalgar Square (that was over quick?), I had been visiting a vigil happening simultaneously with the MMM at Parliament, called Dying For Heat, whose participants braved 24 hours topless in just Bermuda shorts, in typical English November weather, in protest about fuel poverty (more detail on their Facebook page Fuel Poverty Action). There were fireworks being thrown around over at the entrance to Whitehall, lots of vans and police appeared to be kettling marchers, so I went over to have a look – and walked straight into the kettle, to be told I wasn’t allowed to rejoin my friends across the street, where my bag, umbrella and coat were, but I must join the queue to receive a dispersal order. These were being handed out mainly to clear the area; police had stated before the event that the march must finish at 2100 hours. The nature of the event dictated that was never going to happen. The Hive Mind I am told, goes where it goes.
Intending to stay and join in with that legitimate peaceful protest until 10am, my right to do this was denied, and I found myself banned from what seemed an unnecessarily large area of London including Marylebone, Euston, Mayfair, Soho, all of central and even across the river all the way to Vauxhall. I was a bit mouthy for that, but I know where the line is and there’s no point crossing it and giving them an excuse. They cite Section 50. Well then, explain to me in detail what that is? How is a general member of the public expected to know what Section 50 means, and how can you abide by their conditions if you’re not even aware of what they are? I do wonder sometimes if some police even know the law either.
My vocal opposition to being ordered to disperse, and refusing to give my name and address, because as far as I’m aware I am not lawfully required to do so – we the public are not obliged to speak to them at all, and the usual policy among activists is to answer ‘No Comment’ to anything – saw me labelled ‘anti social’ and swiftly put in handcuffs. When asked, they were unable to explain to me why I was anti-social, and appeared to be making it up as they went along, seeming rather confused and indecisive about how to deal with me. The one more senior officer was a bit more sure of himself, but the rest were pitiful, a shambles.
I had done nothing illegal and they knew it. The paperwork says ‘part of group throwing fireworks at police (a blatant lie); refusal to give name and address’. I told them all what I thought of that, of course, which soon saw me moved to a van. I asked them, fairly I thought, to loosen the handcuffs, deliberately clamped on my wrist-bone, and they responded by tightening them, deliberately. I wasn’t able to get that officer’s shoulder number or name, unfortunately. This detail is a great example of why we do what we do. These people are bullies, often the kind of people who need a uniform to feel secure, and they routinely get away with it. I understand totally why some would throw fireworks at them – people are angry – but you won’t find video of me doing it because it didn’t happen – I told them this, much to their annoyance. [ I’ve since learnt that police horses were injured by this, apparently attacked as if they were officers themselves. This, I don’t condone in any way at all. A horse is not a person, and there is no justification for holding these beautiful, intelligent animals responsible for what their keepers do, or make them do. ]
They seemed equally indecisive about where to take me in their van. They were annoyed that I knew their game and wouldn’t give them my personal details, despite the phone in my trouser pocket, which has my bank cards in a slot in the cover, offering all they had asked for… this stayed on my person throughout, untouched. So… in an effort to intimidate me, after debating Charing Cross station, they decided on the infamous Brixton, where, as some may know, detainees of colour are sometimes never again seen alive, and CCTV footage has been known to go missing. I do think I would have got a kicking if I had gone there. The officer putting on blue latex gloves in an effort to further intimidate me happened to be black, so I mentioned a few names of black victims killed in custody at Brixton station, asked if he knew of them. He didn’t talk to me again.
I’d about resolved to be spending the night in a cell and probably be slapped around a bit, when a much more senior activist I recognised from social media showed up, on voluntary legal adviser duty. As well as huge moral support, they ensure the arresting officers conduct themselves properly, record it if they don’t, that the arrestee has a phone number for a solicitor, and so on. They made sure my property was retrieved from over at the Bermuda shorts vigil, which until that point the police had made no effort to do. I asked my legal adviser directly, in the doorway of the van – what do you think? They advised me to just give my name and address, go home. Twenty more minutes, I would have missed the last train out of Waterloo anyway. So, that was that.
They confiscated my Guy Fawkes mask – apparently they have the authority to instruct us to surrender items which could be used to ‘harrass or cause distress to the public’. I found this rather unnecessary, given that I was heading home anyway, and face coverings are an integral part the event – it’s not as if I was the only one there with a mask.
I’m almost sorry my arrest experience wasn’t richer in gory detail for your reading enjoyment. I never even made it to a station! I believe that some degree of civil disobedience in protests is often necessary, and there needs to be a distinct sense of ‘us and them’, where the police are protecting the interests of the rich elites who so often make protest necessary in the first place. Unjust laws need to be challenged, or even broken. Unlawful behaviour from law enforcement officers needs to be confronted, and justice served.
Maybe next time I might have actually done something worth being arrested for. We’ll see.
Afterthought: surfing social media Friday 6th, it seems the consensus among those most involved with the MMM, is that this year was a massive failure for a considerable number of reasons, and self-respecting Anons / Anarchists are quickly distancing themselves from some of what occurred, calling for much better organisation going forward, possibly doing something else altogether. The more violent scenes, obviously picked up with relish by the mainstream media, have been condemned unanimously by the ‘old guard’ with longest experience of the event, and should not be taken as representative of Anonymous or MMM as a whole. Of fifty arrests, this author understands that only three were for violent crimes, and it isn’t by any means certain that those responsible were affiliated with Anonymous at all.
Mike Stanley
