Following the Green Horse At London's G20 Protests

As many of the world leader’s gathered in London to hash out new plans for new economic promises at the G20

summit here this week, I went along to join thousands of others who marched to the Bank of England, 1 April. All day I tagged along to follow protesters, as they strongly expressed views on the financial crisis, jobs, lost homes, the environment, war, lost pensions and savings and plenty more issues. I followed along behind the Green Horse, which was one of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, a theatrical series of parades staged to wind through the city, converging on the Bank of England.

 

Everyone had a myriad of  issues to demonstrate for this week, in hopes that G20 summit attendants would listen, and what form of expression people chose to take stretched from 60s-style peace, love and flowers, to radical black masks and throwing things.

 

While many other eyewitness accounts include reports of poor treatment by police, I left the areas of concern just prior to any major incidents happening, however, during the day did see plenty of activity that created intense escalating tension, which left me fearful for what might happen.

 

For a short time, I could not find a way out of the area, as police surrounded and corralled about 4,000 people. This, I learned, is what happens when police “kettle” protesters to keep them under control, and it freaked me out. Despite being in the middle of it for hours, with a handful of individuals causing damage, it all seemed to be a mostly festive street party atmosphere with live music, dancing and even bubble blowing machines. The sun kept shining, splashing the impressive fortress that is the Bank of England in glorious light, where in its shadow, thousands chanted calls of “Bankers are Wankers!” There were serious, but mostly happy faces, for what was turning out to be a street party.

Among the crowd, some tossed eggs and fruit, some smoke bombs were set off and reports came in of windows

being smashed in at the Royal Bank of Scotland. A few masked men jumped fences and tried to flee the area, and soon the police appeared in full riot gear, blocking entry and exit points in the Threadneedle Street area. I saw a man climb up the front of the Bank of England and hang up some banners, and a few protesters ran about the area spraying graffiti onto the walls. Those in masks circled together at one point, and were under careful scrutiny by the police. The police were comprehensively documenting people in attendance, with photos and videos.

By late afternoon, those who remained inside the cordoned off area, including many press and remaining protesters, needed to use bathrooms, get water, get home – get out. I circled the perimeter of the area, to find lines of police refusing exit to anyone. Asking police about the situation, one cordially told me “sorry love, you’ve just got to stay here for a little while longer” and refused to let anyone through. Realising that, in fact, we all might be trapped in this kettle thing, and could be for hours, fear set in for others and me.

Protesters started pushing up against the police, demanding exit, and I saw the officer’s lift up batons in ready action for any confrontation. Then I got uneasy, and wanted to get as far away as possible from the situation. A man I talked to told me that there was still an exit open, and pointed me toward a narrow street that seemed free and clear. I found it and left the area, to seek out a bathroom and go see if I could visit the Climate Camp, an encampment that had set up with tents, a composting toilet and even hot food, in front of the European Climate Exchange.

Finding Climate Camp at Bishopsgate was like discovering some sort of urban oasis in the middle of what was increasingly feeling to be a very tense situation. A woman handed me some free granola, and welcomed me to the area. A farmer’s market was providing fresh food, and people were sitting calm and relaxed, hanging about their tents, aware but not overly concerned about the increasing gathering of police on the edges of the encampment, and the circling helicopters. Workshops were being held on climate issues and people gathered to hear speakers share ideas.  A group kept some of the crowd dancing with drums, and from above, office workers looked out from windows on at the happenings below, most smiling and laughing.

I saw a couple of well-dressed men in suits stop by to watch the activity, and no one paid any attention to them – glad to see the were not targets for any abuse, given that police gave repeated warnings to city workers to beware of the potential for attack from protesters.

From other people’s Twitter updates, I started hearing about police on horses riding into the bank area and further corralling protesters who remained. Apparently, shortly after I left the area, authorities tightened grip and blocked all exits. Seeing these reports, I was relieved and grateful to have found Climate Camp where the situation remained calm. I stayed a couple of hours at Climate Camp, talking to people who had travelled from other parts of England to join in the protests, and looking at the latest edition of The Evening Standard with others. The newspaper’s front page photo showed a man covered in blood being beaten by police, not far from where I had been standing for hours near the Bank of England. Shock.

While I heard bursts of shouting while standing there, I had thought the excitement in the area had been mainly for the appearance of Chris Knight, a University of East London professor, now suspended for his statements about hanging the bankers, who media say was the instigator for much of the protesting surrounding the G20 summit. It seems the noise was a result of windows being smashed at the Royal Bank of Scotland and clashes between police and a few of the protesters.

 

Later picking up some of the mainstream media’s evening newspapers, it seemed all press attention was toward the individuals and violent moments of the day, with headlines screaming out “Anarchy In The City!”

By this time evening was fast approaching and police were increasing in numbers surrounding Climate Camp. It all seemed quite likely that the protesters would achieve their goal of spending the night camped out in the city streets, and I decided to make my way home and leave them to it.

The journey home was a relaxed group of commuters, with fewer than you would normally expect during peak rush hour. I was glad to have escaped the kettle situation, impressed by the level of organisation and teamwork that I found at Climate Camp, and glad to be going home to an area far from the heart of activities.

Upon arrival home, and finally getting to recharge my mobile phone’s batteries, I checked Twitter updates from others in the protest, and once again discovered that the situation turned very different from what I experienced. Reports said police had blocked in Climate Camp and then proceeded to dismantle the encampment. Some protesters reported that they were roughed up, and at first trapped in the area, some then found themselves being dragged out by police. Dogs were brought in to chase people out and the police requested that people give their name, address and photo ID before being allowed to leave, apparently a request that is not legal. All this was reported by a number of people via Twitter, but I wasn’t there at that point, so can’t confirm or deny any of it myself. If you want to see some of the eyewitness accounts, visit:

Climate Camp

http://twitter.com/climatecamp

G20 Meltdown

http://twitter.com/G20Meltdown

notq

http://twitter.com/notq

G20 Voices

http://twitter.com/G20Voices

The Times journalist Kaya Burgess:

http://twitter.com/kayaburgess

IndyMedia UK has been following along with most incidents, here:

http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2009/03/423717.html

http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2009/02/421421.html

http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2009/04/426159.html

*For a great view inside the G20 Summit happenings, follow the Tweets and blog posts of G20Voice, a group of 50 bloggers who were given security access to the event and got to interview Gordon Brown, Bob Geldof and other high profile individuals here:

G20 Voice

http://twitter.com/G20Voice

I reported what I saw during the protests, while I'm concerned about the economy and envirionmental issues my main objective was to observe, learn about the issues and have the experience of being there, peacefully. You can see my blog post over on DigitalJournal.com. I featured a few of the people I talked to, including the group War On Want, fighting against poverty, who carried a dead canary to represent the end of the city's finance district at Canary Warf. I think that for the most part, I wasin a shiny, happy place where there were bubbles and nice food being shared about – I didn’t see blood. I didn’t get treated badly by any police and I saw nothing that seemed at all like the “riot” some media reports were calling it

Having been through both 9/11 in New York City and here for 7/7 in London, I was nervous about going to see the events of the G20 protests. I’m grateful that I didn’t experience anything overly traumatic, as seems to have happened for some, but still feeling stress about the tense atmosphere in the city. I hope things remain safe.

I considered going along to further protest happenings on Thursday, but feared the possibility of things getting too dangerous and opted out. This was partly the result of getting a few nasty hate monger comments to my Twitter feed (follow @lisadevaney), from right wingers and also getting some criticism from left wing activists. After getting support from friends, I'm back to blogging and uploading thoughts and photos to Twitter and Flickr, and won't be afraid.

Now I’m watching events unfold via Twitter feeds, and the mainstream media, to see what others are experiencing, but have been hiding out from all the action. Saw enough action for one week really, having also attended the Put People First rally over the weekend, and too intimidated by what might happen to venture out solo and experience more. Guess I’m just not that brave, but I respect the people who are making their views known peacefully. I am angered that the pockets of violence have clouded over the demonstrations and painted an unfair angle to the intentions of the majority of the participants.

I hope everyone remains safe throughout London,

-Lisa