@1984 407350 wrote:

could be plenty of damage that isnt on video and are there not forms of trespass that they can arrest for? seem to remember at other protests they have arrested for trespass. Sounds a bit dodgy though surprise surprise.

There is the crime of aggravated trespass but its harder to prove and the amount actually nicked red handed at the demo was fairly low. the Met don’t ignore opportunities to arrest people just like that.

I’ve seen well dodgy stuff like a student journalist openly handing over his footage to a place where the authorities can easily find it (for him its a nice bit of networking to get a job on a reality crime show) also the mainstream media did so, a lot of those journalists went to the same unis as the protestors…

the problem with mass protests is that people what disagree with the protests’ aims can easily infiltrate it, and I don’t mean deep cover “tinfoil hat” conspiracy stuff but these “don’t give a fuck” individualist libertarian types who thrive on disagreement and conflict and spin it for their personal and individual gain.

@1984 407356 wrote:

I thought it was taken for granted that it was these kind of people who hijacked the protest (along with perhaps people caught up in the moment or with a beer too many before hand) but that my just be my exposure to left wing media.

I don’t mean the so-called “extreme anarchist” hijackers – as misguided as their actions may have been.

I mean people like media studies students who went along there with a camera to get “decent pictures of riots”, which they then upload to youtube and similar places in the same way people share them pics of violence in the other thread. When the feds visit them at home/halls and point out they can have their expensive kit confiscated, they then share the photos with the authorities. but of course if they comply then the cops remember them for when they need photos for their websites of police raids etc. How do you think the professional photos and videos on the police websites get made?

to these people the riot is a business/sales opportunity, or trainign for when they become a tabloid photographer.

lots of people do this after one beer too many in normal towns because they are pissed! its just that the cops tend to be better at calming things down. In most cases if no one is hurt, its not widely reported, they get a caution or fine and carry on with their lives.

Our local cops riot squad (Suffolk) train every summer weekend to deal with a riot at one of them townie venues like Liquid etc. They’ve never had yet to deal with this, but its happened in Essex (at a Pixie Lott appearance :laugh_at:)