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February 05, 2006
Protests in England
The Beeb are reporting on concerns that there were no arrests made during protests over the cartoons in London. Placards were waved stating "Europe, your 9/11 will come" and "Europe you will pay, fantastic 4 are on their way" (referring to the 7/7 bombers in London). The police are apparently studying footage of the protests and are deciding how best to act. I personally think this is wise : wading in mob-handed to make arrests during the protest could have led to a riot. I think there will be arrests, but I expect that they will be quiet, discreet and precise. The Met has learned a lot in the last 25 years about dealing with these kind of demonstrations, and it seems their policy now is primarily containment followed by intervention. As we've seen so many times in England and the Middle East, a mob is a dangerous thing. The Met has also learned a lot about sensitivities to demonstrations with strong political or ethnic connections. Those are very often the protests to which the strongest emotions are attached, and moderate protesters who on their own wouldn't dream of violence can sometimes be inspired to action by the actions of those around them, a tactic often exploited during the 80's by the far right (and sadly also by the left) in the form of agents provocateur, political opponents who infiltrate an organisation who are tasked with triggering violent clashes with police and the opposing political group or groups with the aim of inflicting legal and bodily damage on their opponents (eg BNP vs Anti Nazi League etc).
Posted by daen at February 5, 2006 04:21 PM