"April Fool's Day Wake-Up Call" by Rachel

Member Article submitted by Rachel on Tuesday, 26th May 2009. 08:28 PM

My personal reasons for attending the demonstration against the G20 in London on 1st April 2009 were to make a statement against capitalism and, if necessary, to take part in direct action against the banking industry. I believe that systems of government as corrupt and oppressive as global capitalism leave those who oppose them no option than to resort to such an approach and although I favour local actions over so-called 'national' events (i.e. those in London), I thought that the Bank of England was a symbolic target worth travelling to the capital to take on.

Laurens and I arrived just after midday and at this time, there was a peaceful and party-like atmosphere. In fact, the police were initially moving back their lines to allow more people into the area around Threadneedle Street but just after we entered their cordon, they started preventing people from leaving.

Perhaps it was always the case that we were not going to be allowed to march past the Bank of England and as police numbers began to increase on Threadneedle Street (just before the Royal Bank of Scotland), it became clear that any attempt to 'storm the banks' would be met with considerable resistance. This left us in a face-off, although I was not right at the front at this time so cannot comment on the interaction between police and protestors in this area. However, from where I was standing, missiles were only thrown after the police drew their batons and started to physically push the crowd back, causing several very worrying crushes.¹ Furthermore, most of the missiles were directed at the RBS, not the police and it is also to be noted that several individuals were using megaphones to appeal to the police to join us as fellow citizens and protestors rather than protecting a system that cheats them too.

When the activists who broke into the RBS made it through the lines and hit the bank, the police actually did nothing except continue to intimidate and push the main crowd. In fact, it is my understanding that the activists were not arrested until they gained entry to the bank, by police already inside. As may have been predicted, the crowd cheered on the activists, attempting to surge forward and almost immediately mounted and riot police appeared to force us back.

Desperate times cause people to take desperate actions and however nihilistic such actions may seem to some, I was not alone in the crowd in supporting what these activists had done. I do wonder, however, whether allowing this small group of protestors to break into the bank was an act designed to provoke the crowds and justify aggressive police tactics. Perhaps we/they had already walked into trap.

As protestors became more anxious and more angry, the mood of the event changed, especially as the riot police now took up position at all the exits, preventing anyone from leaving and intermittently surging into the crowds to force people further back into the area surrounding the Duke of Wellington's statue.

As the police 'kettle' began to close in, tensions rose further and although there was some missile throwing and skirmishes with police, there was still quite a calm atmosphere. Some people had been injured so quite a few people had moved to the relatively safe area surrounding the statue and a woman also set up a medic station here. We had now been confined for over 6 hours with no water or toilet facilities and people repeatedly appealed to be let out, even in small numbers. The police persistently refused and even ignored a man who was clearly very distressed by the whole experience, despite having been calm, happy and dancing to the music some time earlier.

It cannot be ignored that there were elements within the crowd who relished this change of mood and were intent on violence but I would also say that the majority of these people cared little for the protest, its politics or its purpose. After all, we are constantly reminded that we mustn't judge all football fans by the actions of a few thugs, so why should all activists and indeed, anarchists, be judged by the actions of the few. In fact, the most worrying group I observed were a group of right-wing 'activists', who were mingling with the crowd and provoking the police but also verbally abusing and threatening protestors. In any case, there is some requirement for pragmatism here too and even the most committed non-violent activist was faced with the choice of either resisting the use of physical force by the police or accepting it. I was not alone in making the decision that I would not accept it.

As the riot police became more aggressive, protestors began to take down fences to form barricades and lit a fire. Within minutes, the police drew their batons and charged but they did not just do so in the barricaded area, they also ran towards the statue, charging people (including the medic and her equipment) out of the way as they went, despite the appeals of protestors who raised their hands and tried to calm the situation. They formed a line with their batons drawn and shields raised, which they held for around five minutes before advancing rapidly into the area beneath the statue.

I was standing at the foot of the statue with around 30 others, including Laurens, who has difficulty walking due to knee replacements and had taken refuge there from the police charges elsewhere. When the police line advanced, a large male officer grabbed and pushed Laurens whilst his female colleague shouted at him to move, even as he tried to explain that he couldn't move as quickly as they wanted him to. Then more officers gathered round him but as I tried to explain and prevent them from manhandling and barracking him, the original male officer raised his baton and shield at me and demanded that I move.

When I refused to leave without Laurens, we were both pushed to the front of the statue and I was hit in the arm with a baton and in the back with a riot shield. By this time the crowd was so packed, that none of us would have stood a chance if we had fallen over. None of the officers involved in this charge were wearing their numbers or their numbers were deliberately obscured.

Most activists look out for one another in situations like this and perhaps because he is 79, I try to look out for Laurens more than others, although he'll probably be cross to learn this. On the other hand, I know that he has 60 years of direct action experience behind him and that he's looking out for 'novices' like me too, so it's a collectivised concern! Over the years, I've learned that things have to be pretty bad before Laurens looked frightened and as the police continued to violently corral us in the area to the front of the statue, his anxiety brought home the severity of the situation.

We were held for another hour, before being allowed out of the cordon individually through very narrow entrances, causing another brief but frightening crush, as people desperately wanted to get out. I resisted being led by the arm by a police officer and was told that if I continued, I would be arrested.

Perhaps in some ways, the police are to be thanked for their actions as they will undoubtedly have radicalised more people than political literature could have achieved in the space of 7 hours. However, what does it say for our so-called 'freedom' and 'democracy' that people are forced to put their lives on the line to get their voices heard? This is not melodramatic - Ian Tomlinson was not a protestor but the police use of batons was so aggressive and indiscriminate, that it could have been any one of us in his position.

Despite popular misconceptions, very few activists I know 'enjoy' demonstrating, especially under current circumstances, nor are they jobless and lazy, with little else to do. I for one certainly do not relish the thought of having to take to the streets, least of all in London, to make my voice heard and although I feel empowered by the act of solidarity, I'd much rather be spending time with these friends and comrades away from protests, focusing on other positive and creative activities or quietly tending my vegetables.

On the other hand, I also found this demo to be a striking example of an ever-present, but apparently escalating, current within the wider activist milieu, i.e. the number of people who seem to be too busy partying or talking to the media to make a stand when the police start to move in.

Of course, we all need to let off steam and if we didn't have a least a little carnival spirit and creativity, the constant grind against the system would just be too much. But while a group of about 200 of us were at the sharp end of police charges at the RBS, just a few hundred yards down the road people were dancing and lounging in the sun, seemingly oblivious to the plight of their compañeros. Okay, they'd heard Billy Bragg sing the Internationale and for them, all was well with the world, but if they'd been paying more attention, they'd have noticed that the police lines were moving in and that some of us were fighting a losing battle just to keep them back, let alone break through to the banks.

I also recognise that the ability to record events is important, especially with police violence on the increase (as this particular demo tragically proved), as well as the need to get our message across to a wider audience, otherwise we run the risk of merely 'preaching to the converted'. However, at one point during the skirmishes after the RBS was 'opened to the public', an activist was picked off by a couple of police, knocked to the ground and attacked, at which point some of their colleagues decided to wade in too. I tried to help, as did several others but we were pushed back by the rest of the police line, even so, those who did get through couldn't help because of the gaggle of snappers trying to get a photograph of someone taking a beating right in front of them. I would say with virtual certainly that these photographers would claim to be activists not agents of the media.

Recording what we do certainly has its place in our movement, not least because the supine establishment media are never going to tell J Public the truth and I'm thankful that people endeavour to capture what really goes on and get it into the public domain, despite the establishment's best efforts to hide the truth. But some groups seemed to have brought their own film crew with them and were more concerned about protecting their recording equipment than themselves and those around them. Large cameras caused several injuries during the crushes near the RBS and on one occasion, I was clinging for dear life to my friend as we were forced like tinned sardines back down Threadneedle Street only to be angrily chastised for 'not letting the sound system through'. Well, if I could move and wasn't having difficulty breathing ...

The final straw was when the police closed in for the final 'kettle' of the day and people were having their pictures taken whilst kneeling in front of the police lines with their hands behind their head. I'm sure that these shots will look 'great on their blog' as they claimed but things were bad enough in London that day, why adopt such a submissive pose for a bit of cyber-kudos? Just decide what activism means to you and if it's more about your own ego than trying to change anything, you're better off going to concerts where wealthy whites tell you how bad things are in Africa.

I know as anarchists, we are harbingers of the dangerous idea that people don't actually need leaders to tell them what to do, but for me, anarchism is about so much more than its literal meaning or its wilful misinterpretation in the press suggests. I happen to believe that anarchist ideas, whilst by no means perfectly formed or unified in purpose, have a lot more to offer humankind at this time of crisis than capitalism has ever offered, whatever its glamorous new American figurehead might suggest.

Indeed, the enormity of the task we face was summed up by the sickening sycophancy of The Sun on the day after the demo. Their front page showed pictures of activists and implored the G20 leaders to understand that, 'We're Not All Like This'. This is hardly unexpected from a publication about which the term 'gutter-press' seems too generous but talk about stating the obvious. Of course we're not all like this, if we were 'perhaps the world wouldn't be in such a fucking mess in the first place. Why not apply that headline to those who thought it hilarious to wave £20 notes out of office windows at demonstrators in their own sensitive tribute to the global victims of capitalism?

I am not free to do as I wish, even though my chosen lifestyle would be considerably less selfish, greedy and damaging to others than the lives of most of those who believe it when The Sun tells them that they're part of a noble hard-working majority with a human right to consume; let alone those at the top of the pile creaming off the profits. Instead, I am variously considered as a tree-hugging idealist, a terrorist and even, by some, a class traitor. But if the alternative to this is promulgating a system that has brought misery to billions of human beings over centuries, I'm happy to be an idealist and I'll continue to back this up with direct action if necessary. What I am beginning to wonder, however, is what pre-arranged battles with the police on the streets of London, in a field in Kent or wherever actually achieve. After all, I could have been taking action against banks, the energy industry, coal or just plain old capitalism in my own community, where apathy and ignorance to wider social issues are rampant and overbearing 'civic culture' and consumerism provide a haven for the real class traitors.

I'm not denying the power of mass protest but at the moment it seems to be more part of the media revolution than any kind of social revolution. The female protestor who was pictured on the receiving end of a few hefty blows from one of our devoted guardians of law and order, recruited publicist Max Clifford to help her sell her story, which eventually went to the Daily Express.² I haven't read any comment from Nicky on what she plans to do with the £50,000 reported to have been paid for her story but an rather insightful comment from a comrade suggested that a large donation to the G20 arrestees' legal fund might be a good idea.

I returned from the demo both angered and disheartened that once again we had descended on a preordained target en masse with predictable consequences, especially as I had talked of such a scenario with a fellow activist a short while before. I guess, like most, I hoped that this time it would be different - maybe the police would fight on our side for a change, maybe we'd get through to the Bank of England, maybe this really was the tipping point. But even an idealist eventually has to admit it when things just ain't gonna happen!

If a man shot eight times in the head on a tube train doesn't receive any kind of justice whatsoever, what hope have the rest of us got and why continue to play the establishment's game by offering ourselves up as one big target for their attack dogs in blue? More importantly, why spend months reliving what happened on that gloriously sunny day in April, when the banks were closed and the whiff of revolution was in the air, when capitalism is still grinding on around us and Eau d' Revolution, if 1st April 2009 ever did emit such an aroma, is temporarily discontinued. Please don't try and convince me that pickets with banners demanding 'British jobs for British workers' is a statement of class consciousness or step on the road to revolution.

Surely now our revolution must be about continuing to do the things we are asking of others and actively creating the new world we claim to seek. I would happily fight at any barricade to defend a squat, social centre, community garden, smallholding or commune but I'm more and more reluctant to do so in the defence of some bourgeois media whore's summer ego-trip into the 'alternative' or an ideal of 'working class revolution' that is rendered spurious by its exponents authoritarianism and its subjects apathy.

Perhaps as an anarchist and a history student, I'm predisposed to dwell on the past but the history of society under capitalism is pretty much repetitive anyway, it's just that the numbers get bigger - dollars, deficits, dictators, deaths, and so on. Sometimes though, something from the past seems completely relevant to what is happening today and mostly you come across it after you've spewed many words trying to say what it has said in relatively few.

One can talk for a long time about experiences such as those we lived. The most important thing, though, is not having made the revolution, but having continued the struggle in the years since, each in his or her particular setting, or in many settings at once, without trumpet or drum.³

Notes

1. In Laurens's report of events, he says that we'd been in the area for over an hour when the police charged and this was backed up by a later article in Peace News, however, I am certain that we had not been there more than half an hour at the most before the police charged the crowd we were in.

2. The Max Clifford story was reported in Metro 16.04.2009 pg. 5 (subject to regional variation).

3. Quote from Anna Delso of Mujeres Libres (that is, the group of anarchist women called Mujeres Libres active in Spain in the 1930s and beyond, as opposed to other more recent collectives adopting the same name). This quote is from an excellent book by Martha Ackelsburg called Free Women of Spain: Anarchism and the Struggle for the Emancipation of Women.

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"April Fool's Day Wake-Up Call" by Rachel