How did G20 protest look to the public?

Myself, I feel the violence carried out by a minority of protesters, tarnished all the protesters in the public eye. Silly boys and girls running around dressed in black, made the protesters look thugish, and at the same time comical.

The appearance given to the public, was of a tiny number of protesters looking for a ruck with the police, who seem to live on another planet from the rest of the population.
Nothing has been achieved from the protest, and was a total waste of time.
A public relations disaster for the different groups of the far left.

Meanwhile a 17 year old kid and a 21 year old, have been charged with burglary, criminal damage and arson, in regards to the RBS incident.
Many more to be charged, I don't doubt. All for nothing.

How did G20 protest look to the public?

Depends who you ask?
But more and more people will have more and more sympathy for what protesters like this have to say and less sympathy for the people who bought us the financial crisis.

More agro in any English High Street on a Friday night.

I think there's a considerable diff between 'civil unrest' and wanton violence. Protest doen't have to result in injuries but it needs to result in more than a couple of thousand people needing the toilet. Jesus, it was like a classroom where you put your hand up.

Well the protests certainly wont galvanise public opinion in the way the economic crisis has.

I tried following the G20 via twitter, there were a fair few 'lets spray the protesters with champagne' and 'dirty hippies should get a job' sentiments expressed. And lots of people saying 'what is the G20 anyway?'

Meanwhile police & media credibility was not done any particular favours by he way the protests were reported & policed, but affect probably minimal in the grand scheme of things.

The fact it was the G20 rather than G8 is far more significant than events on the day, which as an outsider looked like a bit of a damp squib.

Take a look at the Daily Mail and there's your answer...

Also just vast amounts of hype from all sides, from the police talk of violent anarchists before the event, to any claims of success by protesters, to the very uncredible media, to the words of the G20 leaders.

Hardly anybody I asked at work gave 2 shits about any of it, they were slightly more interested in the MPs expenses stuff.

Maybe it doesn't look that good, but then if you look at the climate camp footage where all refused to fight back or other any real physical did they come out of any better in the eyes of the public at large?

The point I'm making is that if the media want to get they'll just create a story, or certainly exaggerate or embellish events that happened - the left aren't going to get a public relations triumph over the mainstream media in a situation like that.

What did the world see when they watched and read about the events on April 1 as it was in the front pages of newspapers across the globe? And the picture that was most widely used was this one:



Is this the image that they want to portray of Britain this week? I wouldn't have thought so.

tbaldwin said:

How did G20 protest look to the public?

Depends who you ask?
But more and more people will have more and more sympathy for what protesters like this have to say and less sympathy for the people who bought us the financial crisis.

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this ^

sonny61 said:

Myself, I feel the violence carried out by a minority of protesters, tarnished all the protesters in the public eye. Silly boys and girls running around dressed in black, made the protesters look thugish, and at the same time comical.

The appearance given to the public, was of a tiny number of protesters looking for a ruck with the police, who seem to live on another planet from the rest of the population.
Nothing has been achieved from the protest, and was a total waste of time.
A public relations disaster for the different groups of the far left.

Meanwhile a 17 year old kid and a 21 year old, have been charged with burglary, criminal damage and arson, in regards to the RBS incident.
Many more to be charged, I don't doubt. All for nothing.

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Depends what they saw - I showed a youtube link to my Daily Mail reading mother and she was shocked at the brutality of the police.

I felt that the whole thing was a fucking circus.

And it looked like much of the window smashings were staged.



A couple of guys getting mad at the window, with a whole bunch of photographers taking pictures of it, after they had given theim enough space to do it. Does all this seem right?

And who was it who pretty much advertised that there was a riot going to happen? The media did. Did they not anticipate that many people who like to "smash things up" would turn up to "smash things up" when they had already advertised that there would be some "smashing things up" going on in one place? Of course they knew what would happen.

This was a staged riot, organised by the Press, and the Police (who at the start were the only group talking about violence).

Much of the buildings were free to be damaged, especially RBS, whose bosses refused to secure it's City building, with metal shutters, etc.

It was bullshit. And frustrating bullshit at that.

^^^ That was a pantomime - I saw it live on Sky - it was mostly journos with cameras and non violent protestors with cameras and about three people smashing the windows, watched by police (with cameras). I couldn't help but feel we were watching a dancing bear.

Wombles didn't show up

Whatever there might have been in terms of numbers of demonstrators was divided by four: (1) The union organised protest on Saturday, (2) the Bank of England protest, (3) the American Embassy, and (4) the Excel Docklands Centre.

The pre-publicity by the police emphasised the violence. But the crowds of rabid wombles, Black Bloc and CIRCA clowns didn't show up. The numbers of arrests suggest that it was not that big.

The Daily Mail seemed to be saying it was all orchestrated by "anarchist generals" and taking orders from the academic who suggested Bankers should be strung up.

A load of cobblers the lot of it.....

Why bother to protest?

Who cares?

What will it achieve?

It's easy to complain, but what solutions have you got, and how are they any better than what there is already?

If the message of a peaceful protest is lost due to a single violent incident, we're fucked. This was one bank and a handful of people falling into the trap of smashing it up. One incident played over and over in the media. What was it, two arrests for violence/looting arising from that incident? As far as I can tell, the other arrests were 11 spacejackers in police uniform, a drunk and disorderly and 70 people rounded up at local squats overnight.

We need to bombard the media with the videos and images of the police violence. The BBC report last night was a joke - several minutes on edgy confrontation and the happenings at climate camp dismissed as "allegations of overkill" with no footage. The papers aren't better. Get on the comments sections and give them hell.

The police and media came out of it very poorly.there will be questions asked about the police tactic of ketling .which will be argued is a form restriction on peoples freedom of movement .the police were seen to impede democratic protest rather than policing it

One way to achieve some sort of proper media representation would be to try and get an 'important' persons son or daughter to attend. English football fans have been attacked without reason by foreign police forever, it wasn't until David Mellors son was attacked in Portugal that the respective bodies were prepared to listen.


I was there on Wednesday, it was an outragous farce. The police allowed the RBS window smash, it was their only hope of getting the much needed tv footage. Nearly all windows were boarded up, yet the police stood 10 yards back from the unboarded window of probably the most hated bank at the time?? They made no attempt to stop, or arrest the few trouble makers that gathered there, left them to it, wonder why?!!

The protest wasn't pointless, it got me active and i met some decent people with similar ideas to my own, this must have happened to many others. One thing is for sure, protestors should be wise now to this kettle/(detention) treatment and will have to stage unofficial rally's in the future.

^^^ Good post. Yes it was obvious the cops were allowing the window smashing to happen. It looked daft, bonkers, even more bonkers was the commentry trying to sensationalise it.

There has to be a tipping point, somewhere, when it dawns on the general public that the protesters are fighting for them. I agree with ymu about bombarding the media - although I've noticed some newspaper website have deliberately disabled comments for these articles. Wonder why that would be? Hmmm

the cops are the real thugs hiding behind the law..those idiots jumped me from behind on thursday at the bank of england..now i've got bruises over my face...i don't give monkeys what the public think because most of them have not got the balls to speak up about anything with whats going on with the economy crisis...the people have the power but choose not to unify and challenge the government regarding issues. The rioting is the only way to say and express how we really feel about the situation and if blood must spill then so be it....bring on MAYDAY 2009..payback

kunta said:

the cops are the real thugs hiding behind the law..those idiots jumped me from behind on thursday at the bank of england..now i've got bruises over my face...i don't give monkeys what the public think because most of them have not got the balls to speak up about anything with whats going on with the economy crisis...the people have the power but choose not to unify and challenge the government regarding issues. The rioting is the only way to say and express how we really feel about the situation and if blood must spill then so be it....bring on MAYDAY 2009..payback

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I agree with you mostly, maybe i am naive but still feel that peaceful mass protests can achieve the ends. By peaceful i include direct action, just not violence against a person. Even some of the police that i spoke to on Wednesday were ashamed of the orders given to them. To get what 'we' want we need middle England on our side, just like the RBOS window farce the authorities know how to divide the masses and conquer, we have to use our heads as well as our souls.

Assuming the "public" generally get their "news" from mainstream sources I think it looked like the same old same old.
The smashing of the RBS which gave the lead photo for the next days papers looked odd to me, like it was allowed to happen.
The mainstream took the word of the police on the tragic death. Unchecked. The Met have a track record of lying about Climate Camp, De Menezes and I daresay much more besides. Not checking a police source is terrible journalism.

I salute the protesters and think overall they did a pretty good, though far from spectacular, job. But if all that time isnt going to turn out to be wasted at such a critical time, we need to build for the next event. How handy : May day let's be de-centralised I say.

better than sitting back and doing nothing

but nothing will change eh

The guardian ran a good article on kettling yesterday. 2 page spread in G2

It was on the front pages of the papers and a featured story on the TV here. But nobody I know brought it up in conversation. Wages, contracts and workplace issues dominate political discussion amongst my colleagues.

I honestly think that most people don't care at all and hardly gave it a thought.

Unfortunately

The people throwing stuff through the window of RBS surrounded by photographers reminded me of when England played in one of the recent tournaments where groups of England fans were asked by photographers to pose in "menacing" poses which then went on the front page of the papers the next day under "hooligan" headlines. I don't think the attack on the RBS building was an inside job and I don't think it was done by the Jews either, but I'm sure from the looks of it the media played a part in egging on the idiots who did it...

The great thing is that most people I know, whether on the left or right, have admitted that the whole thing had been set up by the Press and the Police.

If the Press hadn't invited "people who want to smash things up" to the Demo, like they did on many occasions, then things may not have got smashed up.

As for the Lecturer who was suspended, his words were completely taken out of context so that it would wind up these young bulls. After he had said that they were going to hang the bankers, he also added "all I can say is Let's hope they are just effigies", proving that, far from rabble rousing, it was blatentely obvious that his tongue was firmly in his cheek. The latter part was very rarely printed in the National Press, so who was really doing the rabble rousing? Him or them.

But, it's all starting to become a lot more clear to the man in the street that the Press can manipulate such situations, as can the Police. Both of whom are becoming a lot less trusted by the day. An impression not given by the letters page of the London Shite or The London Paper, but who cares, the kind of people who write the letters for them are either Professional doleys (militant rants), Stressed out City women in trouser suits (I have to do as I'm told, so everyone else should too), Managers of Stores who have dreams of being some cunt off Dragons Den (Laws are there for a reason) and the people who work for the Paper (Not enough letters we like the look of, so let's just make some shit up). Everybody else may just go towards the slack opinions of these arse wipes, but most will start thinking, "hang on, I've still got a mind of my own, and things just don't seem right here".

And the best thing to do is mention to these people the inaccuracies of such reporting, and that makes people more determined to stop believing in the garbage they come up with. It is the reason why "news"papers such as the Sun have to fill their pages with football and celebrity gossip. If they didn't they would go down the pan, as their readership is not interested in the "news" that they churn out, or their hate mongering bullshit. Just like the Mail. Most of the columns in the Mail are about Celebritys and nice dresses. If they have a news story, they usually have to counteract it with other about how so and so is trying to take our freedoms away. It's not enough anymore to say "scum" every time a protest goes awry, because most people will say "Yes, I agree with their sentiments, but they are going the wrong way about expressing themselves". Okay, they are not agreeing with the Protesters actions, but neither are they agreeing with the newspapers point of view.

Personally, I think that this is an own goal. Okay, some people will agree, and say "Bastard, smashing that winda. 'e should be sent to Afghanistan". But, so what, that person will think like that anyway. No minds have been converted, just most are a little less trusting of society.

kunta said:

The rioting is the only way to say and express how we really feel about the situation and if blood must spill then so be it....bring on MAYDAY 2009..payback

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''A man has appeared in court accused of trying to set fire to the Royal Bank of Scotland's City branch during the G20 protests in London.

Lithuanian Mindaugas Lenartavicius, 21, who lives in a squat in Palmers Green, north London, was charged with arson recklessly endangering life.

Three others were charged over the attack on the building on Wednesday.

Mr Lenartavicius was remanded in custody until a hearing at Southwark Crown Court in June.

Prosecutors alleged Mr Lenartavicius tried to set fire to window blinds in the office using a cigarette lighter.

He also helped other protesters enter the building through broken windows and put the lives of the bank's staff and activists at risk, the court was told.

A 17-year-old girl, who has not been named, was charged with burglary with intent to commit damage and will appear at West London Youth Court on Friday.

Daniel Champion and Ben Shiells, both 18, were charged with burglary, criminal damage and theft of a computer.

Mr Champion and Mr Shiells were released on bail to appear at Westminster Magistrates Court on 14 April.

More than 120 people were arrested during the two-day protests.

Demonstrators threw missiles and stormed into the Royal Bank of Scotland's City branch on Wednesday after clashing with police in London.''


All the hardman posturing and big talk soon stops, when alone in a cell wondering how long it will be before they see home again.

HarrisonSlade said:

I felt that the whole thing was a fucking circus.

And it looked like much of the window smashings were staged.

A couple of guys getting mad at the window, with a whole bunch of photographers taking pictures of it, after they had given theim enough space to do it. Does all this seem right?

And who was it who pretty much advertised that there was a riot going to happen? The media did. Did they not anticipate that many people who like to "smash things up" would turn up to "smash things up" when they had already advertised that there would be some "smashing things up" going on in one place? Of course they knew what would happen.

This was a staged riot, organised by the Press, and the Police (who at the start were the only group talking about violence).

Much of the buildings were free to be damaged, especially RBS, whose bosses refused to secure it's City building, with metal shutters, etc.

It was bullshit. And frustrating bullshit at that.

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They do that. I was in the Intrepid Fox in the early 2000's when a massive bunch of May Day protestors got kettled into Wardour Street. I went out with a girl friend to get some money from the cashpoint up the other end of Wardour. A good ten minute walk even when it's empty there. The protestors were packed in tight all the way to the other end and the whole street was lined with police.

When we got back down to The Fox, we dopily walked through the butt end of the kettle, right outside the Fox, realised our mistake and went to go back through the line. The police wouldn't let us, and we complained about that because we'd left our stuff in the bar. Suddenly some hoody clad "protestor" from "the front lines of anarchy" turns round and quietly but firmly intervenes, telling the copper in a very commanding manner "they were in The Fox, let them through." He had authority over the line, which immediately opened enough to let us pass without any further questions. He was young looking bloke too. Looked like early 20's.

So they do plant. No doubt about that. And the way that kettle edge didn't budge at all from the edge of RBS whist all that breaking and entering was going on for so long right beside them makes me think it's highly possible the action was instigated by one of them. Once the smashing started, other genuine protestors were bound to follow. At the very least, they allowed it to happen. They needed it to happen to back up this whole "summer of rage" bullshit and try and stop every average Joe Public complaining when he's finally had enough.

Smurker said:

The protest wasn't pointless, it got me active and i met some decent people with similar ideas to my own, this must have happened to many others. One thing is for sure, protestors should be wise now to this kettle/(detention) treatment and will have to stage unofficial rally's in the future.

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In my opinion the idea of holding protests like this achieves nothing. People can meet up at the anarchist bookfair or some other event in the 1 in 12 Club or places like this, and exchange their ideas. The protesters can probably have a lot of fun trying to outrun and outwit the police, developing alternative tactics, forming new groups like the Wombles and the clowns etc. And so it goes on and so it goes round with peoples' heads getting smashed by the police and those newspaper reports and the three minutes of coverage on the TV.

But does it really achieve anything? Supposing all those people did something else instead, but not just on one day but consistently over a long period. Supposing instead of trying to address the government (the message of the whole protest isn't consistent or coherent, anyway. What do they want?), the government who anyway isn't listening and doesn't bloody care... Why don't the protesters put their energy into building something they positively believe in outside the banking / global finance system? If that's what they want.

Oh, also, does anybody here have any idea where I can get hold of an "anarchist general's" uniform?

sonny61 said:

Myself, I feel the violence carried out by a minority of protesters, tarnished all the protesters in the public eye.

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Only if you're foolish enough to blindly swallow the version of events served up by the mainstream media.

Dig a little deeper and it's not hard to find out what really happened.