G8 protesters in standoff with police at Soho 'squat'

[Dennis the 'Bloody Peasant']

Riot police have surrounded a building in Soho, central London, ahead of planned protests against the G8 summit.
More than 100 officers are in a standoff at a reported squat in Beak Street occupied by anti-G8 protesters.
A group StopG8 has planned a "Carnival Against Capitalism" ahead of the summit of world leaders in Northern Ireland next week.
BBC London 94.9 reporter Anna O'Neill said some scuffles had broken out between the police and protesters.
Police liaison officers have told people occupying the building in Beak Street that they will be removed and searched. They will then be held while the building itself is searched.
Businesses including hedge funds and banks in central London are understood to have warned staff to take precautions after similar protests in recent years led to violent clashes with police.
Ed McClaran tweeted: "Big G8 protest outside our offices today.
"People chaining themselves to railings. Why they are in the West End and not the City, I don't know."
The leaders of the world's eight wealthiest countries, including Russian president Vladimir Putin and German chancellor Angela Merkel, are due to meet at the luxury Lough Erne resort in Co Fermanagh for the two-day conference next week

(BBC News)

[Admiral Swagmeister G-Funk]

fucking ridiculous amount of feds. makes me sick

[Brutus]

6 people have been arrested as of late.

[Admiral Swagmeister G-Funk]

footage on al jazeera showed someone trying to jump off the roof of the building before being stopped by the cops. he said something like 'i don't wanna live under fascism!' and made a run for it. dunno if this is being reported anywhere else

[Brutus]

footage on al jazeera showed someone trying to jump off the roof of the building before being stopped by the cops. he said something like 'i don't wanna live under fascism!' and made a run for it. dunno if this is being reported anywhere else

Saw the footage on BBC, but didn't hear the audio.

[Admiral Swagmeister G-Funk]

i didn't either, it was according to the reporter

[Brutus]

Flicked over to Al-Jazera.
That was brutal...

[Admiral Swagmeister G-Funk]

would've been insane if he made it. 'martyrdom'?

[Brutus]

Possibly... It could be used as a symbol of some sort.

[human strike]

So today could have gone better... They're saying there were 57 arrests. I'm getting tired of these cat and mouse games with TSG up and down Oxford Street just for 57 people to get arrested.

[RebelDog]

We have 100 coppers raid a squat allegedly looking for 'paint bombs' whilst a protest target nearby (BAE Systems) sells lethal arms anywhere it likes around the planet making it directly responsible for untold misery and death. Is there any irony left in this upside-down world.

[Dennis the 'Bloody Peasant']

The arrests were made for alleged possession of an offensive weapon, criminal damage, assault on a police officer, failure to remove a face covering, and possession of articles with intent to commit criminal damage.
StopG8 said many of the world's "most brutal and polluting companies" were in London's West End, as well as government offices and the "mega rich".
The Met said officers had been working with the City of London Police and British Transport Police. A spokesman said businesses in central London and the City had been warned about possible protests.

(BBC News)

[bcbm]

our tactics have definitely not kept pace with the cops adjusting to them

[Admiral Swagmeister G-Funk]

i think we need to realize that we're not gonna get around the tsg by dressing up and running around central. there's no wiggle room, if u go to protests in boroughs like lewisham and hackney you don't see any cops - you find the pigs where the money is and its not just a few beat walkers either. think we need a big change in tactics.

we're no match for total policing

[ed miliband]

i think we need to realize that we're not gonna get around the tsg by dressing up and running around central. there's no wiggle room, if u go to protests in boroughs like lewisham and hackney you don't see any cops - you find the pigs where the money is and its not just a few beat walkers either. think we need a big change in tactics.

we're no match for total policing

i think that has a lot to do with numbers though. i mean, with all due respect to those involved this sort of protest is a relic of the 90s / early 00s anti-globalisation scene, 'summit hopping' and all of that; it appeals to a small, dwindling number of activists.

i think the london riots showed that 'total policing' can fall apart overnight in other circumstances, though.

[Admiral Swagmeister G-Funk]

i think that has a lot to do with numbers though. i mean, with all due respect to those involved this sort of protest is a relic of the 90s / early 00s anti-globalisation scene, 'summit hopping' and all of that; it appeals to a small, dwindling number of activists.

i think the london riots showed that 'total policing' can fall apart overnight in other circumstances, though.

yeah but that rioting was mostly in boroughs like hackney, tottenham and lewisham where you hardly even see police. as soon as a protest goes into the city the tsg turn up with their friendly blue hats and then change them for helmets ready to kick the shit out of us.

agree that numbers def make a difference though, we'd need huge numbers in the city to properly challenge them. every last action i've been on has ended up a walking kettle and that's with numbers between 5 and 50k tops i reckon

[ed miliband]

yeah but that rioting was mostly in boroughs like hackney, tottenham and lewisham where you hardly even see police. as soon as a protest goes into the city the tsg turn up with their friendly blue hats and then change them for helmets ready to kick the shit out of us.

true, but by the second night london was swarming with cops drafted in from across the country; the cops were there, but the element of surprise, rapid spread across boroughs, spontaneity, online communication / organisation made it impossible for them to police.

what's happened here is some activists have said 'right, lets have a day of action in london, squat this building in soho, etc.' and the police have acted accordingly, drafting in far more cops than they otherwise would have, to deal with a small group of people running through a relatively small (and very busy) part of town. i think it's just a bit dumb tbh.

i would say though, the reason they target oxford street, piccadilly, etc. is the same reason these areas are heavily policed; high concentration of capital, which they believe they can stop the 'flow' of.