Police made a series of arrests as they launched a massive crackdown on
activists in a bid to prevent rioting and serious disorder in central London.
Hundreds of officers in riot gear surrounded a squat in Soho being used
by organisers as a meeting point for anti-G8 protests planned for London this
afternoon.
After a tense stand-off they used an angle grinder to break through the
front door as a police helicopter hovered overhead.
Inside officers had to smash their way through a barricade of wood and
metal as protesters on the roof shouted "freedom" before throwing
items at officers below.
Some also sprayed an unknown liquid on the police.
In clashes in the West End protesters played what one described as
“high speed cat and mouse” with squads of officers in high vis jackets and blue
baseball caps chasing activists around the streets.
A group of more than 50 anarchists dressed in black and with scarves
covering their faces clashed with police as the march left Oxford Circus.
Brandishing placards reading things like "No Borders no prisons no
capitalism" and "Welcome to Pig City" they were in a running
battle with police.
Later several dozen protesters - believed to be so-called Black Bloc
activists - brawled with police on Piccadilly after an officer's hat was
grabbed and thrown into the air.
Witnesses said the officer was dragged into the mob when he tried to
retrieve it.
One protester, giving his name as Dave, 20, from Brighton, said:
"The police response has been colossal. There's hundreds of police here,
we couldn't do anything serious even if we tried."
Scotland Yard said there had been six arrests by around 2pm but the
figure was expected to rise significantly.
The massive police clampdown was launched as StopG8 protest leaders
threatened to converge on “capitalist targets” including banks, hotels,
businesses and hedge funds across Westminster.
Police had intelligence that anarchists and troublemakers would attempt
to hijack the protests and bring mayhem to central London.
Thousands of police officers were on alert for trouble as the
anti-capitalist protesters threatened to target 100 addresses of "power
and tyranny" in a demonstration against next week’s G8 summit.
Hedge funds, private equity firms and banks have warned their staff in
London to take precautions in the event of disruption by activists.
Today’s “Carnival against Capitalism” is part of a week of protest
events planned in the capital leading up to the summit in Northern Ireland on
17 and 18 June.
Police issued Section 60 and Section 60 AA orders for Westminster and
the City of London to allow officers to stop and search people at random if
they believe violence or disorder is about to take place as well as order
people to remove face coverings.
More than a hundred officers wearing riot gear surrounded the
protesters' headquarters in Beak Street at around 10.30 this morning, leading
to a siege of the premises though police denied they were “kettling” the
protest.
Protesters climbed onto the roof of the building - a former police
section house - wearing balaclavas and took pictures. Office workers in nearby
buildings leaned out to watch.
Inside around 200 people were making preparations for a march this afternoon
after occupying the space on Thursday. Many were making banners and placards
for the protests.
In previous years similar protests by anti-globalisation groups and
anarchists have led to violent clashes with police, vandalism and buildings
being temporarily occupied.
This time the Met were taking no chances with sources saying
“significant numbers” of officers were on stand-by in case of trouble.
Protest leaders have published a map of 100 possible
"capitalist" targets, including banks, hedge funds, defence and
mining firms, hotels and private companies.
The list also includes a section on what organisers describe as
"dens of the rich" which include nightclubs such as Annabel's,
Mahiki, Boodle's and Tramp, shops such as Fortnum & Mason, Bond Street and
also Buckingham Palace.
StopG8 has called for supporters to meet at noon at two locations,
Oxford Circus and Piccadilly Circus.
The private equity firm Carlyle Group said it was increasing usual
building security measures and one large hedge fund, which asked not to be
identified, said it had advised its staff to be especially alert to the
protests.
"We're clearly aware of it," it said. "Our guidance is
to be careful and don't draw attention to yourself.”
A huge security operation is taking place in Northern Ireland in
advance of next week’s summit at the Lough Erne golf resort which is due to be
attended by world leaders including Barack Obama and Vladimir Putin.
The Met said : “There is an appropriate and proportionate policing plan
in place that aims to balance the rights of individuals to peaceful protest
against minimising disruption to Londoners going about their daily business. “
Westminster councillor Ed Arger said: “Our warden teams will be working
with police to manage the streets and we also have clean-up crews on standby.”
In April 2009 thousands of protesters clashed on the streets of the
City of London for a G20 summit and newspaper vendor Ian Tomlinson died after a
confrontation with officers.
In 2005 there were hundreds of arrests during violent clashes in
Scotland at the last G8 summit hosted by the UK.
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