I might not have totally agreed with the protests that were happening this week, but I do agree that there is that right to do so, and I respect the people exercising their right. I was unforunately watching the live stream of the carnival like atmosphere outside the DWP head office on live stream when I seen a line of police without warning, provocation or reason storm into the protest from seemingly nowhere causing complete chaos.
What I can't understand is how this happened? It was only afterwards the Met police attempted to find out what was going on via twitter. Surely that should have been the first course of action. Just one look at the hash tag #DPAC or #ukuncut etc. would have led them straight to the heart of the people involved.
What scared me the most was their attitudes towards the protestors. They treated the vertical people as terrorists, despite the fact that the majority of them were probably disabled themselves. I know that if I were to attend an event like that (I don't think it will be possible though) the sudden change in atmosphere, the chaos, and the shoving and screaming and shouting would have probably caused me to collapse and have a seizure. I hope there was no one there today in that position, I was traumatised just watching it unfold. As for those in the wheelchairs it must have been terryfying to be in that confusion. The police came between the line of wheelchairs and the 'rest' of the protestors, literally blocking and barricading them in. To have no way to escape and to be shoved around must have been nasty.
Now I am not saying that these people were innocent disabled people, far from it. Nor am I saying they are above the law, or should be treated differently to other people protesting, if they are breaking the law. However, that being said, I do think that there does need to be some consideration of the people involved in the protest before storming in heavy handed, and if that is the best tactic. Disabled people do have additional needs, and there are important things to be considered. There appeared no order to what the police were doing, and their shouting for the whole group to move back was lost by the second row. It caused too much chaos to be effective.
What shocked me was the difference in the polices attitudes compared with the previous protest that occurred on Oxford street. The police there talked directly to the protesters through loud hailers, and requested people to leave. At that point it gave people who needed to get out for any reason (through impairment or other reason) the opportunity to do so. Those who wished to stay were doing so under the full knowledge that the police had asked them to move.
There were 2 protests today, one outside ATOS and outside the DWP. Apart from the internal part of the DWP protest I can see no difference. There were people standing outside. The only limitation was the space. Outside the DWP there was litterally no space, but there was a square at ATOS. Even if the intention wasn't to block the entrance, but to protest the entrance would have still been blocked.
I just hope that the police are held accountable for their actions today. It was completely inexcusable, and completely avoidable. They gave no warning, no reason and caused a serious ammount of damage. Regardless of any act of defiance, there will be disabled people who will not be able to protest after the events of today, and I am not just talking about the physically disabled people who were injured, but those with mental health problems.
Shame on the police, really shame.
watch it here: http://bambuser.com/v/2946786
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