I spent some of the morning looking at how #BLMldn protests played out. Thought I’d amplify some of the things that struck me. Thread:
This is an important point, and resonates with what I saw when I was in central London as people assembled yesterday. It was a grassroots thing, unlike so many of the top-heavy boring demos the left organises. Hende absence of manufactured placards.
Also hence a great diversity of tactics and approaches from the protestors, with a lot of anger but also a lot of this:
And this:
And even this: #BagelsAgainstRacism
Another point is that mobilisations were nationwide, not just in London. Here’s #BLMnewcastle for example:
This seems to be the moment violence began. Note right-wing provocation, behind police lines
(By the way, expect more hardcore right-wing provocation next week: )
This is a key moment. The cop who came off his horse was attacked by... a lamp post.
(HT @MediocreDave)
(HT @MediocreDave)
How an event is policed is more often the main factor in how “violent” a demo is, rather than the intentions protestors arrive with #londonprotest
So for example kettling yesterday clearly added a lot of tension to how things turned out
This thread is really good for showing how heavy handed policing in response to an angry but largely peaceful protest ramped up the aggro:
Worth noting that what looks like chaotic policing was led by senior officers:
And the policing of yesterday’s London protest exactly followed the playbook of how the Met usually polices #BLM events: (HT @naazrashid)
One particularly egregious bit of policing yesterday was the detention of @blkprotestlegal legal observers (see tweets by @zedhas3 @BrendaEfurhiev @f_jichi @moniquebouffe)
End of thread.
If you want to support UK black-led grassroots activism, here’s some you can start with: @ukblm @blkprotestlegal @UFFCampaign @LCAPSV
If you want to support UK black-led grassroots activism, here’s some you can start with: @ukblm @blkprotestlegal @UFFCampaign @LCAPSV
CORRECTION: *her* horse not his horse
