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Recent articles by Anon
attack on bristol security firm Apr 30 13 fbi as MAFIA Apr 27 13 Guilty my arse! Support pickets jailed 40 years ago! Apr 19 13 Repression of Tesco Protest bristol |
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 Monday May 30, 2011 13:06 by Anon
 Over the past week, attempts at completely peaceful protest (some would say to the extent of being ineffective), have been met by repression by both the police and Tesco security. Last week, two women sat outside with a small banner and knitting. Within minutes, an unmarked police car (and later a riot van) turned up, took their details (for 'obstructing the highway'), and moved them on. On Saturday, three students handing out flyers were met with about three cars-full of police (one each, I guess?), though this time they were disappointed to realise there was nothing they could do. One student was upset at this, as he was hoping for a wrongful arrest to help pay back his student loan ;-). On Sunday two people, with a cardboard sign and flyers, had been outside for no more than a quarter of an hour before security came out, and tore up the sign (claiming it was 'on their property'?!?). Police took a while to get there this time, but when they arrived, rather than taking seriously any complaint about the behaviour of the staff (no surprises there!), arrested one of the activists for 'common assault' (as yet no charge, but not allowed near the store for now). In solidarity with the arrested activist, some people are expected to be protesting outside the store again today, at 3pm.
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Comments (16 of 16)
Jump To Comment: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16"On Sunday two people, with a cardboard sign and flyers, had been outside for no more than a quarter of an hour before security came out, and tore up the sign (claiming it was 'on their property'?!?)"
The immediate paving stones outside the store may technically be their property. It actually varies all the way up gloucester rd, but in the main the areas which are the property of the store are those that the council haven't paved with those substandard square slabs. Further up gloucester rd (especially around the nevil rd stretch) you can see this more clearly, as many shops have just let the area outside their shops degrade (quite costly to do themselves I imagine) but in others the council paved over anyway.
So, ownership of the immediate couple of slabs outside the store isn't clear cut, and may need to be looked into. If they do own it, and you step beyond it then people will be 'obstructing the highway' so they'll have you in a bind on that one.
But nonetheless, approaching you, coming inside your personal body space (18inches I think) grabbing stuff off you and destroying it is actually a very serious criminal assault, as well as illegal destruction of your property.
If anyone wanted to press charges they could find themselves in the dock.
are there videos or photographs of these situations ?
can people try to make video recordings of these events ?
not just for legal purposes, but so that other members of the public
can make informed decisions about their own involvement
in the campaign and protest
i just went into stokes croft tesco to register my concern
regarding the assault
the manager said in her mind these events never happened
so its her word against yours without documentation
many people are on the fence regarding tesco, but very
decided about right to peaceful process and abuse of power
Yes, most of it is on camera in some form, but can't be released until all the people are asked permission and given time to check with their solicitors, and until it is edited so it does not cause further repression.
Hopefully will release some within the week (including some of the pre-riot oppression too), but may need longer...
This will be very hard for the local press and the police to spin.
Local protesters, nicely holding banners and leaflets.
Its about time some common assault allegations against police and security began to stick. (not sure Gandhi would have said that bit.)
I've probably shopped in Tesco about 10 times since they re-opened, and I can honestly say that I have not seen a single protester. On the other hand, there are always people shopping there. I admit to being fairly ignorant of the food retail industry; nevertheless, it looks like a moderately successful business to me. I certainly hope that it is.
It's quite a strange feeling, to be subverting the or thodoxy by means of an activity so banal as shopping in Tesco!
"Its about time some common assault allegations against police and security began to stick"
How will they be pursued? Surely not by calling the police or IPCC since the actions of the police in protecting property and public has been roundly condemned by users of this site so we cannot expect those same "activists" to accept that action against Tesco security by the police is legitimate.
richard...... if there was any way to prove it i would, but i think you are someone funded by tescos to come on these pages and defend them.
Tescos have been caught doing this before, and i think they are doing it again - both here and in the letters pages of the Evening Post.
I am not saying every supporter of tescos on here works for tescos. But it stands to reason that, if Tescos have been caught using this tactic before (posing as 'locals') then you can bet your bottom dollar they are doing it over something that has been as damaging to them as these riots.
And please, save your conspiracy loon comments - it stands to reason that someone like tescos would hire a company to do this, it's just a question of when and where they do it - Bristol Indymedia, at a moment when the battle lines are being redrawn, is a no-brainer.
You haven't seen anyone protesting outside the Tesco all this time because the police are moving people on in a matter of minutes. Peaceful protest is being repressed, that's the point! I did see some people outside yesterday and they were handing out flyers about all the tax dodging and exploiting farmers and other nasty practices Tesco is guilty of. Despite being good natured and friendly, it seems to me that these people are very vulnerable to being intimidated by security guards and questioned by the police as if what they are doing isn't perfectly legal and morally commendable! Why aren't these people being celebrated and supported?! Why are they being arrested? After all, they are only doing something that they believe in and they are not hurting anyone but they are being victimised for it. In contrast, smashing it up managed to close it for a month with little effort or consequences for those who did it! I feel sympathy for the lovely people who want to spend their spare time doing something good for others in such a way. I hope they keep it up and aren't scared off!
Please send footage of surveillance and repression tactics to info@fitwatch.org.uk
That goes for any demo etc. The more info we have, the more accurate our analysis. Every bit of info helps, even if it seems trivial.
Thanks loads to those who have taken the time to feed in. It is really appreciated, and we make use of all the info, although not all of it necessarily appears on the blog.
If you send us info, we'll never publish your name or details unless you have given us permission to do so. And if you would rather what you told us is kept quiet, we'll do that aswell.
Unfortunately the actions of the rioters has affected the rights of us all to protest peacefully - after all there is now a precedent. I have posted many times that the actions of the rioters have affected MY rights to peaceful protest and it seems I have been proved correct.
In the same way the police might see you or I drunk in the street and gently send us on our way. However if they know that you or I have a history of getting drunk then committing crime they are likely to be more robust in their response.
Wrong twist again Doggie. The actions of protesters in April has absolutely no bearing on the historic freedoms won for us by our ancestors over the centuries. Those protesters did not make the 'laws' and they cannot take them away. Whether or not anyone broke the 'law' in April has no legal impact on our rights to protest. The clear fact of the matter is that your beloved cops and Tescos bosses have clearly decided to act to take away those historic hard-won rights. They have made a policy decision based on their political views, and no doubt it is one supported by the local state.
We should of course expect nothing less from a UK regime that continues to fund and train the repressive regimes of the middle east. No doubt if you were in Libya or Syria or Yemen you would be arguing exactly the same – that the violent protests by citizens against their regimes removes their right to protest. Whoops...except of course they had none in the first place.
Historically you will find that most violent protests have occurred when all other options have been closed to protesters. So your stance of support for the suppression of protest merely makes future violent protest only more likely.
What do you call your dog, Gaddafi?
No. I really think Dogwalker is right. The police would permit protest outside Tesco if there hadn't been a riot. If it's true that they have been moving protesters on, the natural explanation for this is that they are worried that it's all going to kick off again, rather than this being part of some big state conspiracy to oppress the masses. Personally I think they're making a mistake, as I suspect that the protests will be peaceful this time, and peaceful protest is after all a legitimate and indeed integral feature of liberal democracy. But I can well appreciate that it's a difficult judgment call.
You miss the point entirely.
Why do the police remove peaceful protestors at Tesco's behest ? Do you not see that any answser is wrong.
Why did 160 police turn up to arrest a single suspected petrol bomber ? No answer at all
Why have we heard nothing since the petrol bombs going off for forensics ? Becasue there was never any petrol.
Why have the police not arrested a single officer shown smacking innocent people with a trunction ? because they never do. Not even when they kill people.
Its WMD all over again. And you sick corporate wage monkey are using it as a justification for police oppression and violence.
"You miss the point entirely."
At least you're not making personal remarks. How refreshing.
"Why do the police remove peaceful protestors at Tesco's behest ? Do you not see that any answser is wrong."
No I don't. In the police's eyes, Tesco have the same right to protection as any shop or household which has been the recent victim of mob violence. In the circumstances, renewed protests, even avowedly peaceful ones, could easily be construed as having the potential to morph into renewed disorder.
"Why did 160 police turn up to arrest a single suspected petrol bomber ? No answer at all"
I guess they were expecting a lot of trouble - and their expectations quite manifestly were borne out.
"Why have we heard nothing since the petrol bombs going off for forensics ? Becasue there was never any petrol."
They're saving it for the court case, no?
"Why have the police not arrested a single officer shown smacking innocent people with a trunction ? because they never do. Not even when they kill people."
It was a riot. Anyone the police hit was probably taking part in the riot. Moreover, police certainly do get arrested for smacking innocent people, especially when as unfortunately sometimes happens, they kill people. Just a few days ago, it was announced that a policeman is to go on trial for the killing of Ian Tomlinson.
"Its WMD all over again. And you sick corporate wage monkey are using it as a justification for police oppression and violence"
Why?? What on earth does Blair's mendacity over WMD's have to do with the actions of the police during the Stokes Croft riots? And what's a corporate wage-monkey? Is that what you think of people who work?
I went down to Tesco and did some picketing and leafletting before the riots. The police attended and, despite me remaining calm, polite, and entirely within the law, were threatening, insulting, and used physical force to move me away from the shop. This latest news is not a change in tactics; it's a change in speed and intensity. Any suggestion that people's right to protest has been removed by the riots is ludicrous - shortly before the riots, the police decided to intimidate us all by turning up mob-handed with their friends from Wales and beating the crap out of everyone - remember that? They're just trying to keep things quicker, slicker, and out of the public eye now.
... which is that a sizeable minority of the people in Stokes Croft were intent on beating the crap out of the police. And stoning them with rocks torn out of a local resident's wall. And dropping a paving slab on one of them. And individual police were almost certainly scared to death that some lunatic was going to start with the petrol bombs.
From my perspective as a local, the police did a good and brave job protecting private property from an unedifying collection of drunks and losers and posh trots.
Incidentally, to forestall the inevitable, I'll say this: if not liking mobs makes me a troll, then I'm a troll and proud of it.