Today's Wedding
Apr. 29th, 2011 09:38 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
the_future_modernes posting in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
politicsWhile all of this was going on:
Royal Wedding in Photos
Police use royal wedding to clampdown on protest
Police are using the royal wedding as an excuse to take their revenge on activists. They have launched a major crackdown over the past week—including raids on squats and social centres, arrests and fresh charges for protesters.
Police commander Bob Broadhurst said that police were “looking specifically at the royal wedding” to prevent “disorder and violence” on the day. Bizarrely he added that “the threat to the wedding is a threat to democracy”.
The truth is that the police clampdown is a threat to democracy and a threat to the right to protest.
Police arrested six anarchists early in the week. Then they arrested and charged several student protesters—including Alfie Meadows, the student who had to have life-saving brain surgery after being struck by police at a protest last December.
Riot police arrived en masse at various sites across London the day before the wedding to raid squats. Outside the Ratstar squat in Camberwell, south London, rows of riot vans filled the streets while armed police kept guard outside.
They gave different reasons for the raid at different times of the day. But one Met police spokesperson said, “The search warrants were issued in connection with the disturbances at the student and TUC demonstrations.”
Around 40 officers arrived at Grow Heathrow, a community gardening squat in west London, at 7.15am in full riot gear. Witnesses describe how they pulled people from their beds and searched them—only to leave with nothing.MORE
Royal (British) Weddings Past
Civil-liberties concerns follow arrests before UK royal wedding
A British religious think tank is raising civil-liberties concerns after a number of arrests were made in Britain just days before the wedding today of Prince William and Catherine Middleton.
The Christian organization Ekklesia reports on “raids on centres associated with activism and the apparently random arrest of people with radical lifestyles.”
In the Camberwell are of London, 14 arrests were reported yesterday after police raided a community centre called Ratstar.
“Ratstar is in the unusual position of being a squat in which the squatters have permission from the owner to be there,” says the think tank in a report attributed to “staff writers.”
“Ratstar runs a café and provides training and workshops on subjects such as the repair of bicycles. The police had still not left Ratstar by 6 p.m., though it is unclear what they were looking for,” Ekklesia says.
It goes on: “There were also police raids at the Off Market centre in the Lower Clapton Road and the Grow Heathrow squat, both in London. Off Market, which runs advice services on topics such as housing and gardening, is also a squat. Observers say there has been one arrest there and that the police have broken windows and a door.”
Ekklesia quotes an unnamed activist as saying that it would be ridiculous to suggest that all those arrested were violent extremists.
She said she regarded the raids as “politically motivated” and it would be absurd to regard the several raids as a coincidence.
“The timing of it seems obviously related to the royal wedding and to May Day,” she said.
MORE
Police Raid Squats Across London
At least two squats – including Rat Star Social Centrein Camberwell and OffMarket in Clapton – as well asGrow Heathrow’s market garden area, have been raided by police this morning.
According to journalist Laurie Penny, the Camberwell warrant was to look for stolen goods, yet the officers despatched were from the Territorial Support Group – “London’s first response to any planned or spontaneous events, which may involve public disorder” (this from the Met’s website). Arrests have been reported at Camberwell.
MORE
Zombie wedding gets broken up in Soho Square - London
An alternative to the Royal Wedding called the "Zombie Wedding" was to be held in London's Soho Square, billed as "a right royal orgy" with "rumpy pumpy and guillotines". However, organiser Professor Chris Knight, his partner Camilla Power and Patrick Macroidan had all been arrested at Knight's home the previous evening on charges of suspicion to cause a breach of the peace & public nuisance. All props & equipment for the Zombie Wedding were also seized, and all three held in custody.
With the previous days 'Minority Report' style arrest in mind, I did wonder how many, if any, people would be present at the Zombie Wedding.On arrival, there were only about half a dozen people present for the event, with one attendee dressed in a chainmail & armour outfit, sporting a colander as a helmet. Through a megaphone he addressed the press, who outnumbered the wedding guests at least two to one at this point, relaying how people trying to attend the event had been stopped, searched and even prevented from getting to Soho Square.
The third contingent in the square were numerous plain clothed police officers. It seemed the square had been double booked with the secret policeman's ball at one point. I know you're not supposed to notice them, but most of them do stick out like sore thumbs. The fact they were all wearing luminous green wristbands, and not making that great a job at hiding them, didn't really help their cause.MORE
Facebook suspends UK activist groups
Online activists have claimed that Facebook has removed or suspended dozens of groups in the last 12 hours in a "purge".
A list of apparently suspended accounts includes anti-cuts groups and pages created during the students protests in December.
Tower Hamlets Greens, UWE Occupation and Save NHS are among the pages no longer active. A list published online on the UCL occupation blogsuggests that more than 50 political accounts have been suspended.
"It may well be that these groups are technically in violation of Facebook's terms of agreement, but the timing – on the Royal Wedding and May day weekend – is deeply suspicious," the blog claimed.
"We don't know for certain, but this purge of online organising groups could be linked to the wider crackdown on protest by authorities in Britain."
It is unclear why the accounts have been affected. Facebook declined to issue a statement.
However a spokesman said: "The reason all of these profiles came down at once is simple. Facebook's security tools constantly work to maintain our real name culture by removing profiles that are 'fake' or don't belong to an individual person, but rather a campaign, an animal, or an organisation."
MORE
LGBT activists arrested during royal wedding
Members of anti-cuts group Queer Resistance were arrested in central London today after gathering over a kilometre away from the royal wedding celebrations.
Police arrested a number “zombie flashmob” participants, and prevented others from holding a picnic in Soho Square.
A section 60 cordon was put in place in the centre of London this morning in response to reports that anarchists were “masking up” in Soho Square. The move gave police the power to stop and search anyone in the area.
In a YouTube video uploaded by a protester, police officers can be seen telling unmasked lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans activists dressed as zombies to disperse before they “offend” royalists.
“So the line is because the pro-monarchy people are coming here, you have to make us go,” asks a protester. “Yes,” they are told, before being informed that: “you have four minutes, either you leave or be arrested”.
...
Le’Belle alleges that police officers consistently misgendered both himself and his companion, a trans woman. He described how a police woman “cupped” his companion’s “genital area” in order to ascertain her genital status before conducting a search.MORE
Articles you might be interested in
Date: 2011-04-30 07:13 pm (UTC)http://www.irishcentral.com/story/news/periscope/prince-william-accepting-irish-title-a-hostile-move-120990039.html
Personally-While I'll never be claim to be close to my mother's side of the family, but as someone whose Irish ancestors due to British imperialism, I found the whole We're All Irish spin on the wedding to be offensive and contrived in general. Call me over sensitive.
Anyway, in Censored News...
Royal family's wealth is from the blood and genocide of Indigenous Peoples
http://bsnorrell.blogspot.com/2011/04/royal-familys-wealth-is-from-blood-and.html
Re: Articles you might be interested in
Date: 2011-05-01 02:07 pm (UTC)Re: Articles you might be interested in
Date: 2011-05-02 11:09 pm (UTC)Re: Articles you might be interested in
Date: 2011-05-02 11:10 pm (UTC)Across Laikipia in northern Kenya, where William and Kate's engagement was sealed, land is being acquired and fenced by local white ranchers, politicians, and foreign investors and is displacing pastoralists, preventing them gaining access to traditional grazing lands. At the recent international conference on 'global land grabbing' held at IDS, John Letai of Oxfam GB revealed the extent of the land grabbing in this area and the consequences for pastoralist livelihoods."
Re: Articles you might be interested in
Date: 2011-05-03 12:21 am (UTC)Somehow I doubt they are aware of this.