2009 G-20 London summit protests
Encyclopedia
The 2009 G-20 London summit protests occurred in the days around the G-20 summit
on 2 April 2009, which was the focus of protests from a number of groups over various long-standing and topical issues. These ranged from disquiet over economic policy, anger at the banking system and bankers' remuneration and bonuses, the continued war on terror
and concerns over climate change
.
Although the majority of the protests and protesters were peaceful, the threat of violence and criminal damage were used by police as a reason to detain, or "kettle
", protesters as part of Operation Glencoe. A bystander, Ian Tomlinson
, died shortly after being pushed to the ground by a police officer. A second post-mortem has revealed that Tomlinson may have died from an abdominal haemorrhage
. A police officer has been questioned under suspicion of manslaughter
and the inquest in Mr Tomlinson's death found that he was unlawfully killed.
28 March 2009: 35,000 people joined the peaceful "March for Jobs, Justice and Climate" in central London
, which was organized by "Put People First", a civil-society
coalition organised in response to the London summit of more than 160 development non-governmental organisations, trade unions and environmental groups.
Their 12-point economic plan for democratic governance demanded democratised financial institutions to deliver secure jobs and public services, an end to global poverty and inequality, and a green economy. The movement was initiated by the Jubilee Debt Campaign, Trade Justice Movement
, British Overseas NGOs for Development and TUC
.
A peace activist climbed over the railings into the Houses of Parliament as a symbolic gesture of 'power to the people'. When arrested by police he explained that "This is the people's parliament, and I am one of the people".
28 March 2009: Marches in several French cities were organised by Association for the Taxation of Financial Transactions for the Aid of Citizens.
1 April 2009 12 noon
Around five thousand people joined the G-20 Meltdown protest outside the Bank of England
. G-20 Meltdown was a radical anti-capitalist, socialist organisation conceived in Paris and formed in London in January 2009 prior to the G-20 summit. As well as the protest, they organised four nearby squat
s. Much of the protest, which was "kettled
", was peaceful although there were violent confrontations. The police used batons and dogs and at least one policeman was injured; some protesters broke into a branch of RBS
and a bystander, Ian Tomlinson
, died after being hit with a baton from behind by a police officer near the protest.
1 April 200912:30pm 
About two to three thousand people joined the Climate Camp in the City
outside European Climate Exchange
on Bishopsgate
, which was peaceful except for when minor scuffles occurred after riot police 'kettled' the event at 7:30pm. The street was cleared at about 2am following day.
1 April 2009 2pm
Several hundred people joined a peaceful Stop the War Coalition
march from the American embassy in Grosvenor Square
to Trafalgar Square
which brought together protesters from the Stop the War Coalition, Palestine Solidarity Campaign
, The British Muslim Initiative, and the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament
.
1 April 2009 4pm
An 'alternative G20 Summit' with speakers including Tony Benn
, Ken Loach
, Ken Livingstone
, John McDonnell
and Caroline Lucas
was scheduled to take place at the University of East London
which was close to the main G-20 Summit venue. At the last minute the university announced that the whole university would close for the duration of the summit on safety grounds, also that Prof Chris Knight
, an expert in anthropology at the University for 20 years, had been suspended for "inciting criminal action, specifically violence against policemen and women and damage to banking institutions", and that the alternative summit was cancelled. In the event, the summit did go ahead and was held on the lawns of the university and started an hour later than planned and an attendance of 200-300 people.
2 April 2009:
Around 200 people gathered for a vigil outside Bank following news of Ian Tomlinson's death, and were subjected to a police 'kettle' despite the vigil being peaceful.
200 anti-war protesters from the Stop the War Coalition
protested at the ExCeL Centre.
2 April 2009:
'Spiderman', the French climber Alain Robert
, climbed the Lloyd's building
and unfurled a banner saying '"100 months" to save the world' in reference to the urgency of tackling climate change.
, they were addressed by GCAP co-chair Kumi Naidoo
, TUC
General Secretary Brendan Barber
, environmentalist Tony Juniper
, activist comedian Mark Thomas, and global justice author Susan George amongst others. They heard calls for international action to deliver tax justice, trade justice and a Green New Deal
in both rich and poor countries.
The Put People First alliance of more than 160 unions, development, faith and environment groups called on the G20 leaders to recognise that "only just, fair and sustainable policies can lead the world out of recession, and that a return to 'business as usual' - with the associated poverty, inequality and climate change - is not an option".
Christian NGOs including World Vision and Tearfund organised an ecumenical service on the day at Methodist Central Hall, overseen by the Bishop of London. Delegations joined the march from around the world, including Belgium, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Luxemburg, Netherlands, Portugal, Romania, Slovenia, Spain, Korea, USA, Australia, South Africa, Zambia, Canada and the Philippines.
This protest took place outside the Bank of England
. The aim was to "create a carnival outside the bank" and to "overthrow capitalism". Protesters referred to the day as "Financial Fools' Day", a reference to the protest taking place on April Fools' Day
.
The protest started at 11:25 as four planned marches, each led by one of the 'Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse
', converged on the Bank of England
: the red horse against war approached from Moorgate
; the green horse against climate chaos from Liverpool Street station
; the silver horse against financial crimes from London Bridge
and the black horse against land enclosures and borders from Cannon Street
. Protesters were at the Bank of England by 11:53. Protest chants included "build a bonfire, put the bankers on the top", and some protesters shouted "jump" and "shame on you" at bankers watching from windows. The police cordoned off thousands of protesters at 12:52 and many of those within the cordon were not allowed to leave for up to seven hours. Tom Brake
, a Member of Parliament and legal observer who was among those 'kettled', has criticised this tactic.
Protesters from the group Space Hijackers
were arrested for impersonating police, after being stopped while in a blue 10-ton armoured vehicle, wearing blue boiler suits and riot helmets.
The windows of a branch of the Royal Bank of Scotland
were broken by a group of protesters at 13:45, some of whom entered the building and looted office equipment and papers and threw smoke grenades, chairs and eggs There was intense media attention to this event, with a ring of photographers surrounding the people breaking the windows and David Howarth
MP later commented that one of the unresolved mysteries of the day was why the moment that a masked person threw the first piece of scaffolding through the window it was observed by hundreds of photographers and film crews already in position. Four people, including a 17-year-old girl, have been charged in connection to this damage. RBS has asked for £40,000 in damages from the teenage girl, who has admitted burglary and criminal damage.
Following the damage to the bank there were violent confrontations with the police with police using batons against the protesters while trying to push them back. Some protesters fought back, including one masked protester who hit police with a pole, resulting in one injury and a smoke or flour bomb was also thrown. A branch of HSBC
also had windows smashed. A journalist reported that the police "were spat on, hit and had vile abuse screamed into their faces from inches away."
A professional photographer saw what they described as "agents provocateurs
" instigating violence. One who was throwing bottles was challenged by protesters, who accused him of being a police officer. He ran to police lines and was allowed through after showing I.D. Tom Brake MP has also said that members of the crowd told him about suspected agents provocateurs who had been encouraging the crowd to throw objects at the police. A police spokesman said that "We would never deploy officers in this way or condone such behaviour."
Without alternative facilities, people used the entrances to Bank Underground station
as a urinal, although the police said that temporary toilets
and water were made available to protesters. As people were eventually allowed to leave at about 20:00, they were asked for their names and addresses, and required to have a photograph taken. They are, under the law, obliged to provide their name and address, however they did not need to provide the photograph, but those who refused were put back in the pen.
Commander Bob Broadhurst
, the officer in charge of policing the G-20 protests said that the "overall mood" of the 1 April demonstrations was good although "unfortunately small groups of protesters intent on violence mixed with the crowds of lawful demonstrators." A bystander, Ian Tomlinson
, died after being pushed to the ground by a police officer.
s as bases close to the Bank of England on the 31st March. The police raided an occupied derelict pub in Shoreditch
on the evening of the 31st which had been publicised as a 'convergence space for protesters'; they stopped and searched people entering the building and arrested three people, one on suspicion of assaulting a police officer.
On 1 April Payne House on Earl Street near Liverpool Street Station
was promoted as venue for workshops, films and accommodation with space to house 'many, many people'. The venue was advertised as a drug-free and alcohol-free centre with no-photography allowed without permission. Police later raided a large Victorian office building in Earl Street and another squatted building, the RampART Social Center, in Whitechapel
on 2 April, detaining a total of at least 80 people and arresting four. A video of the raid allegedly shows an officer pointing a Taser
at protesters who are lying on the floor, which would be against police guidelines.
The 'Camp in the City' (51.5152°N 0.0825°W) on 1 April 2009 aimed to draw attention to <>, claiming that far from being a way of reducing release of climate change gasses in the atmosphere it is used as an excuse to continue doing just that. The camp took place outside the European Climate Exchange
in Bishopsgate
Prior to the actual camp a group of participants had played a game called 'capture the flag' in the area on the 27th March which was used by the protesters to familiarise themselves with the locale.
Climate Camp organisers agreed to meet with police and exchange contact details shortly before the protest. The meeting was arranged by Liberal Democrat
MP David Howarth
, who was to mediate at the meeting which was to take place at the House of Commons. Scotland Yard confirmed that a meeting was to take place with Bob Broadhurst (police commander) and Ian Thomas (chief superintendent).
The camp, which was intended to last for 24 hours, started at 12:30pm when a camp was established in a section of Bishopsgate between Threadneedle Street
and London Wall
with tents set up and <> across the road reading 'Nature doesn't do bailouts'. There were solar-powered sound systems, musicians and a food stall and some 1,000-plus relaxed people.
The atmosphere was still relaxed at about 5pm when police with helmets, shields and batons began to surround areas of the camp using section 14 of the Public Order Act 1986
.
At about 7pm the police stopped allowing people to enter or leave the protest. The police advanced on protesters who put their hands in the air and passively resisted while chanting "This is not a riot", a tactic that emerged over the course of a number of Camp for Climate Action gatherings. There were scuffles with the police in which several protesters were hit and kicked by the police and one policewoman needed medical attention. Within the cordon people carried on playing music and preparing food and until the police began letting people leave at about 11:30pm and cleared the area of the last protesters at about 2am.
Organizers of the Climate Camp have released a report of the protests and the police response, "Demonstrating Respect for Rights", which includes allegations of police using violence to clear the camp after journalists had left. The camp legal team also released a video of the protests, which includes footage of a demonstrator being struck on the head by a police riot shield, and of another man being punched in the face as the crowd retreats from police.
An 'alternative G20 Summit' with speakers including Tony Benn
, Ken Loach
, Ken Livingstone
, John McDonnell
and Caroline Lucas
was scheduled to take place at the University of East London
, which is close to where the main G-20 Summit was held. At the last minute the university announced that the whole university would close for the duration of the summit on safety grounds, also that Prof Chris Knight
, an expert in anthropology at the University for 20 years, had been suspended for "inciting criminal action, specifically violence against policemen and women and damage to banking institutions", and that the alternative summit was cancelled. In the event, the summit did go ahead and was held on the lawns of the university and started an hour later than planned; 200-300 people attended.
Scotland Yard officers drew up Operation Glencoe, the plan to protect the summit and prevent disorder. The overall commander (the Gold commander
) was Commander Bob Broadhurst.
Before the event Commander Simon O'Brien said that the capital would see "almost unprecedented level of activity" of protest activity with seven officially notified demonstrations and possibly many more they don't know about. Scotland Yard
described the G20 policing plan as one of the largest, most challenging and complicated public order operations it has ever devised. They said that the level and style of activity on the internet suggested a re-emergence of groups with similar aims to the anti-globalisation protesters who turned to violence in 2000 and 2001. They said they were determined to avoid the violent scenes of the 2001 G8 in Genoa
in which one protester was killed and hundreds more injured. In the days leading up to the summit, the Metropolitan police
warned protest groups that the protests on April 1 would be "very violent" and that they were "up for it, and up to it" in the event of trouble.
The police used the crowd-control tactic known as containment or the “kettle
”, to hold 5,000 people inside a police cordon without food, drink or lavatory facilities. This combined with riot police pushing into crowds with shields and batons.
Ian Tomlinson
died after being shoved and struck by a police officer within a police cordon of the G-20 Meltdown protest near the Bank of England. Initially the City of London Police denied that any incident with the police had occurred, and the death was attributed to natural causes.
Including a number of raids on squats
on 2 April 2009, the police made over 100 arrests and said they had identified and would track down those who had broken the law. A teenage girl was convicted of criminal damage An estimated 5,000 people took part in the protests. It has been suggested that the policing of the event will turn out to have been the most expensive police operation in British history at an estimated cost of up to £8 million, or £1,600 per protester.
One raid on a climate change group the day after the main protests was ruled to have been illegal in March 2010, the Met Commissioner said that it was unlawful to arrest and search protestors and to force them to be recorded on film. Two protesters were each awarded £3000 compensation after the Met admitted the operation was unlawful as there were no reasonable grounds for suspicion.
In the build up to the protests the chairman of the Joint Committee on Human Rights
, Andrew Dismore, MP
, said that "The police have a duty under the Human Rights Act to facilitate protest and not frustrate it. If they act in a confrontational way and use confrontation language, they will start to provoke the kind of behaviour they are seeking to prevent. There may well be a fringe element that want to incite violence. But that doesn't mean police should criminalise every protester." David Howarth
, a Liberal Democrat MP, said: "I am increasingly worried that what the police are saying about the protests will end up in a self-fulfilling prophecy. By talking up the prospect of violence they [the police] will put off peaceful demonstrators and start to attract other sorts."
Jenny Jones
, a member of the Metropolitan Police Authority
, said of reports of police brutality that "If the police were hitting people who were sitting down with their hands up, we have entered a new era of overt violent policing in Britain that will deter people from protesting and cut back our civil liberties". A police Commander said that their "tactics were proportionate and worked". Jean Lambert, MEP
, of the London Green Party
, wrote an open letter to the Metropolitan Police Commissioner after the event asking for an explanation of the police tactics at the climate camp.
A number of allegations of police misconduct have been reported, including by a press photographer. The IPCC has received 185 complaints relating to police actions at the demonstrations, 40 of which were ineligible and 80 of which concern violence. An officer is being investigated and has received a written warning after writing "Rob Ward can't wait to bash some long haired hippys up @ the G20" as a Facebook
status update on the evening of 1 April. Liberal Democrat MP Chris Huhne
has noted "the canteen culture of some parts of the Met".
The National Union of Journalists
has considered taking legal action after Section 14 of the Public Order Act 1986
was used against journalists covering the protests on 2 April. The City of London police asked them to leave the area at the Royal Exchange for half an hour, and threatened arrest if they refused. Section 14 is to prevent "serious public disorder, serious criminal damage or serious disruption to the life of the community". The police earlier apologised to journalists reporting the 1 April protests at the Bank of England: "Section 14 was applied outside the Bank of England to disperse protesters. There may have been some photographers caught up in that. If so we apologise. We respect the right of photographers to cover current events."
Sir Paul Stephenson
, the Metropolitan Police Commissioner, expressed "concern that the video footage of some police actions are clearly disturbing and should be thoroughly investigated", and a need to be reassured that the use of the containment, or kettling
tactic "remains appropriate and proportionate". Denis O'Connor has said that some police behaviour "fell short of the police medal promise to "guard my people"." Others have defended the policing of the protests. Sir Ken Jones
, the President of the Association of Chief Police Officers
, has criticised the lack of objectivity which he perceives has been shown by the media. Jones went onto question the views put forward by Nick Hardwick, the Chair of the IPCC. Jones also stated that he "can't think of any other country that doesn't use water cannons, CS gas, rubber bullets". The Police Federation
has also criticised the IPCC, making a formal complaint about the "deplorable behaviour" of Nick Hardwick, Chairman of the IPCC, for passing "lofty and withering judgment on London's police officers". Home Office Minister Lord West said in the House of Lords that "thousands of officers acted absolutely professionally and proportionately, thousands were actually able to demonstrate peacefully on our streets, criminal activity in the rest of the metropolis was kept to an absolute minimum and the police also maintained high levels of security. And I think we should be extremely proud of them. This does not excuse acts which are criminal and there are now investigations taking place for those particulars." The Mayor of London
, Boris Johnson
, has defended the police, and said that "I worry that there are large sections of the media that are currently engaged in a very unbalanced orgy of cop bashing".
, near to where he died. A sergeant with the Territorial Support Group
is seen slapping a woman who was arguing with him, Nicola Fisher, across the face, then striking her legs with his baton. The officer's identification number was concealed. The IPCC said it would investigate, and the officer was suspended. Sir Paul Stephenson said that uniformed officers should always display their shoulder identification numbers, as "The public has a right to be able to identify any uniformed officer whilst performing their duty." In September 2009, the officer was named as Sgt Delroy 'Tony' Smellie, and the CPS
announced that it would charge him with assault. The court case against Delroy Smellie commenced in March 2010 and he has been found not guilty.
Another demonstrator, Katie Surridge, has alleged that she was pushed to the ground from behind on 1 April by the same officer who later struck Nicola Fisher. That incident has also been reported to the IPCC. IPCC have announced that there is no case to answer.
is appropriate and proportionate to ensuring people have the right to protest. He said the event was a "complex policing operation", and that footage of clashes with police will be reviewed to check if other incidents need to be examined. Sir Paul stressed that all uniformed officers must wear shoulder identification numbers to be easily identifiable by the public. Among the tactics being reviewed is the crowd-control tactic known as the “kettle
”, used to pen in protesters. Bob Broadhurst
, the commanding officer during the protests, blamed any misconduct of officers on the lack of training they receive in crowd control
and on fear. He revealed during a Commons Home Affairs Committee that officers only receive 2 days of training a year.
On Tuesday 25 January 2011, Bob Broadhurst apologised to the home affairs select committee for telling then in May 2009 that no plain-clothes officers were present at the demonstrations; He admitted that numerous City of London police officers had been present at the demonstration, along with more than one Met officer, including PC Mark Kennedy. The Guardian, Tuesday 25 January 2011
On April 14th 2011 the high court has ruled that the Metropolitan police broke the law in the way they "kettled" protesters at the G20 demonstrations in 2009, and also criticised the use of force by officers.
, died within a police cordon of the G-20 Meltdown protest near the Bank of England. Initially the City of London Police
denied that any incident with the police had occurred, and the death was attributed to natural causes. Days later, The Guardian published video showing Tomlinson had been pushed by a Metropolitan Police Service
officer and hit with a baton minutes before he collapsed and died.
The Independent Police Complaints Commission
(IPCC) subsequently ordered a second post mortem and set up an independent criminal inquiry to determine whether Tomlinson was assaulted by police, and whether that assault contributed to his death. The results of this second post mortem have revealed that Tomlinson actually died from an abdominal haemorrhage. A police officer has since been questioned under caution in the ongoing probe into Tomlinson's death.
2009 G-20 London summit
The 2009 G-20 London Summit is the second meeting of the G-20 heads of state in discussion of financial markets and the world economy, which was held in London on 2 April 2009 at the ExCeL Exhibition Centre. It followed the first G-20 Leaders Summit on Financial Markets and the World Economy, which...
on 2 April 2009, which was the focus of protests from a number of groups over various long-standing and topical issues. These ranged from disquiet over economic policy, anger at the banking system and bankers' remuneration and bonuses, the continued war on terror
War on Terror
The War on Terror is a term commonly applied to an international military campaign led by the United States and the United Kingdom with the support of other North Atlantic Treaty Organisation as well as non-NATO countries...
and concerns over climate change
Climate change
Climate change is a significant and lasting change in the statistical distribution of weather patterns over periods ranging from decades to millions of years. It may be a change in average weather conditions or the distribution of events around that average...
.
Although the majority of the protests and protesters were peaceful, the threat of violence and criminal damage were used by police as a reason to detain, or "kettle
Kettling
Kettling is a police tactic for controlling large crowds during demonstrations or protests. It involves the formation of large cordons of police officers who then move to contain a crowd within a limited area. Protesters are left only one choice of exit, determined by the police, or are completely...
", protesters as part of Operation Glencoe. A bystander, Ian Tomlinson
Death of Ian Tomlinson
Ian Tomlinson was an English newspaper vendor who collapsed and died in the City of London after coming into contact with the police while on his way home from work during the 2009 G-20 summit protests. A first postmortem examination indicated he had suffered a heart attack and had died of natural...
, died shortly after being pushed to the ground by a police officer. A second post-mortem has revealed that Tomlinson may have died from an abdominal haemorrhage
Bleeding
Bleeding, technically known as hemorrhaging or haemorrhaging is the loss of blood or blood escape from the circulatory system...
. A police officer has been questioned under suspicion of manslaughter
Manslaughter
Manslaughter is a legal term for the killing of a human being, in a manner considered by law as less culpable than murder. The distinction between murder and manslaughter is said to have first been made by the Ancient Athenian lawmaker Dracon in the 7th century BC.The law generally differentiates...
and the inquest in Mr Tomlinson's death found that he was unlawfully killed.
Timeline of the protests
Central London
Central London is the innermost part of London, England. There is no official or commonly accepted definition of its area, but its characteristics are understood to include a high density built environment, high land values, an elevated daytime population and a concentration of regionally,...
, which was organized by "Put People First", a civil-society
Civil society
Civil society is composed of the totality of many voluntary social relationships, civic and social organizations, and institutions that form the basis of a functioning society, as distinct from the force-backed structures of a state , the commercial institutions of the market, and private criminal...
coalition organised in response to the London summit of more than 160 development non-governmental organisations, trade unions and environmental groups.
Their 12-point economic plan for democratic governance demanded democratised financial institutions to deliver secure jobs and public services, an end to global poverty and inequality, and a green economy. The movement was initiated by the Jubilee Debt Campaign, Trade Justice Movement
Trade Justice Movement
The Trade Justice Movement is a British coalition, founded in 2000, of more than 80 organizations campaigning for trade justice.The coalition has a particular focus on UK and EU trade policies...
, British Overseas NGOs for Development and TUC
Trades Union Congress
The Trades Union Congress is a national trade union centre, a federation of trade unions in the United Kingdom, representing the majority of trade unions...
.
28 March 2009: Marches in several French cities were organised by Association for the Taxation of Financial Transactions for the Aid of Citizens.
1 April 2009 12 noon
Around five thousand people joined the G-20 Meltdown protest outside the Bank of England
Bank of England
The Bank of England is the central bank of the United Kingdom and the model on which most modern central banks have been based. Established in 1694, it is the second oldest central bank in the world...
. G-20 Meltdown was a radical anti-capitalist, socialist organisation conceived in Paris and formed in London in January 2009 prior to the G-20 summit. As well as the protest, they organised four nearby squat
Squatting
Squatting consists of occupying an abandoned or unoccupied space or building, usually residential, that the squatter does not own, rent or otherwise have permission to use....
s. Much of the protest, which was "kettled
Kettling
Kettling is a police tactic for controlling large crowds during demonstrations or protests. It involves the formation of large cordons of police officers who then move to contain a crowd within a limited area. Protesters are left only one choice of exit, determined by the police, or are completely...
", was peaceful although there were violent confrontations. The police used batons and dogs and at least one policeman was injured; some protesters broke into a branch of RBS
Royal Bank of Scotland
The Royal Bank of Scotland Group is a British banking and insurance holding company in which the UK Government holds an 84% stake. This stake is held and managed through UK Financial Investments Limited, whose voting rights are limited to 75% in order for the bank to retain its listing on the...
and a bystander, Ian Tomlinson
Death of Ian Tomlinson
Ian Tomlinson was an English newspaper vendor who collapsed and died in the City of London after coming into contact with the police while on his way home from work during the 2009 G-20 summit protests. A first postmortem examination indicated he had suffered a heart attack and had died of natural...
, died after being hit with a baton from behind by a police officer near the protest.
1 April 2009
Camp for Climate Action
The Camps for Climate Action are campaign gatherings that take place to draw attention to, and act as a base for direct action against, major carbon emitters, as well as to develop ways to create a zero-carbon society...
outside European Climate Exchange
European Climate Exchange
The European Climate Exchange manages the product development and marketing for ECX Carbon Financial Instruments , listed and admitted for trading on the ICE Futures Europe electronic platform. It is no longer a subsidiary of the Chicago Climate Exchange but rather a sister company...
on Bishopsgate
Bishopsgate
Bishopsgate is a road and ward in the northeast part of the City of London, extending north from Gracechurch Street to Norton Folgate. It is named after one of the original seven gates in London Wall...
, which was peaceful except for when minor scuffles occurred after riot police 'kettled' the event at 7:30pm. The street was cleared at about 2am following day.
1 April 2009 2pm
Several hundred people joined a peaceful Stop the War Coalition
Stop the War Coalition
The Stop the War Coalition is a United Kingdom group set up on 21 September 2001 that campaigns against what it believes are unjust wars....
march from the American embassy in Grosvenor Square
Grosvenor Square
Grosvenor Square is a large garden square in the exclusive Mayfair district of London, England. It is the centrepiece of the Mayfair property of the Duke of Westminster, and takes its name from their surname, "Grosvenor".-History:...
to Trafalgar Square
Trafalgar Square
Trafalgar Square is a public space and tourist attraction in central London, England, United Kingdom. At its centre is Nelson's Column, which is guarded by four lion statues at its base. There are a number of statues and sculptures in the square, with one plinth displaying changing pieces of...
which brought together protesters from the Stop the War Coalition, Palestine Solidarity Campaign
Palestine Solidarity Campaign
The Palestine Solidarity Campaign is a campaign in the United Kingdom promoting solidarity with the Palestinian people. It was founded in 1982 during the build-up to Israel's invasion of Lebanon.The campaign states:...
, The British Muslim Initiative, and the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament
Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament
The Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament is an anti-nuclear organisation that advocates unilateral nuclear disarmament by the United Kingdom, international nuclear disarmament and tighter international arms regulation through agreements such as the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty...
.
1 April 2009 4pm
An 'alternative G20 Summit' with speakers including Tony Benn
Tony Benn
Anthony Neil Wedgwood "Tony" Benn, PC is a British Labour Party politician and a former MP and Cabinet Minister.His successful campaign to renounce his hereditary peerage was instrumental in the creation of the Peerage Act 1963...
, Ken Loach
Ken Loach
Kenneth "Ken" Loach is a Palme D'Or winning English film and television director.He is known for his naturalistic, social realist directing style and for his socialist beliefs, which are evident in his film treatment of social issues such as homelessness , labour rights and child abuse at the...
, Ken Livingstone
Ken Livingstone
Kenneth Robert "Ken" Livingstone is an English politician who is currently a member of the centrist to centre-left Labour Party...
, John McDonnell
John McDonnell (politician)
John Martin McDonnell is a British Labour Party politician, who has been the Member of Parliament for Hayes and Harlington since 1997; he serves as Chair of the Socialist Campaign Group, the Labour Representation Committee, and the "Public Services Not Private Profit Group"...
and Caroline Lucas
Caroline Lucas
Caroline Patricia Lucas is a British politician. Lucas is the leader of the Green Party of England and Wales, and the Green Party's first and only Member of Parliament in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom...
was scheduled to take place at the University of East London
University of East London
The University of East London is a university located in the London Borough of Newham, East London, England, based at two campuses in Stratford and Docklands areas...
which was close to the main G-20 Summit venue. At the last minute the university announced that the whole university would close for the duration of the summit on safety grounds, also that Prof Chris Knight
Chris Knight (anthropologist)
Chris Knight is a British anthropologist and political activist.Following an MPhil in Russian Literature from the University of Sussex in 1977, he gained his PhD in 1987 at the University of London for a thesis on Claude Lévi-Strauss's four-volume Mythologiques...
, an expert in anthropology at the University for 20 years, had been suspended for "inciting criminal action, specifically violence against policemen and women and damage to banking institutions", and that the alternative summit was cancelled. In the event, the summit did go ahead and was held on the lawns of the university and started an hour later than planned and an attendance of 200-300 people.
2 April 2009:
Around 200 people gathered for a vigil outside Bank following news of Ian Tomlinson's death, and were subjected to a police 'kettle' despite the vigil being peaceful.
200 anti-war protesters from the Stop the War Coalition
Stop the War Coalition
The Stop the War Coalition is a United Kingdom group set up on 21 September 2001 that campaigns against what it believes are unjust wars....
protested at the ExCeL Centre.
2 April 2009:
'Spiderman', the French climber Alain Robert
Alain Robert
Alain Robert , is a French rock and urban climber, from Digoin, Saône-et-Loire, Bourgogne, France...
, climbed the Lloyd's building
Lloyd's building
The Lloyd's building is the home of the insurance institution Lloyd's of London, and is located at 1, Lime Street, in the City of London, England.-Design:...
and unfurled a banner saying '"100 months" to save the world' in reference to the urgency of tackling climate change.
Put People First
On 28 March 2009, 35,000 people marched through London. At a rally in Hyde ParkHyde Park, London
Hyde Park is one of the largest parks in central London, United Kingdom, and one of the Royal Parks of London, famous for its Speakers' Corner.The park is divided in two by the Serpentine...
, they were addressed by GCAP co-chair Kumi Naidoo
Kumi Naidoo
Kumi Naidoo, born 1965, is a South African human rights activist and the International Executive Director of international environmentalist group, Greenpeace. He is the first African to head the organisation....
, TUC
Trades Union Congress
The Trades Union Congress is a national trade union centre, a federation of trade unions in the United Kingdom, representing the majority of trade unions...
General Secretary Brendan Barber
Brendan Barber
Brendan Paul Barber has been the General Secretary of the United Kingdom's Trades Union Congress since June 2003.-Early life:...
, environmentalist Tony Juniper
Tony Juniper
Tony Juniper is a British environmental campaigner, author and commentator most recognised for his work as Executive Director of Friends of the Earth, England, Wales and Northern Ireland and Vice Chair of Friends of the Earth International from 2000-2008.Juniper was the Green Party's parliamentary...
, activist comedian Mark Thomas, and global justice author Susan George amongst others. They heard calls for international action to deliver tax justice, trade justice and a Green New Deal
Green New Deal
A Green New Deal is a report released on July 21, 2008 by the Green New Deal Group and published by the New Economics Foundation, which outlines a series of policy proposals to tackle global warming, the current financial crisis, and peak oil. The report calls for the re-regulation of finance and...
in both rich and poor countries.
The Put People First alliance of more than 160 unions, development, faith and environment groups called on the G20 leaders to recognise that "only just, fair and sustainable policies can lead the world out of recession, and that a return to 'business as usual' - with the associated poverty, inequality and climate change - is not an option".
Christian NGOs including World Vision and Tearfund organised an ecumenical service on the day at Methodist Central Hall, overseen by the Bishop of London. Delegations joined the march from around the world, including Belgium, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Luxemburg, Netherlands, Portugal, Romania, Slovenia, Spain, Korea, USA, Australia, South Africa, Zambia, Canada and the Philippines.
G-20 Meltdown
Bank of England
The Bank of England is the central bank of the United Kingdom and the model on which most modern central banks have been based. Established in 1694, it is the second oldest central bank in the world...
. The aim was to "create a carnival outside the bank" and to "overthrow capitalism". Protesters referred to the day as "Financial Fools' Day", a reference to the protest taking place on April Fools' Day
April Fools' Day
April Fools' Day is celebrated in different countries around the world on April 1 every year. Sometimes referred to as All Fools' Day, April 1 is not a national holiday, but is widely recognized and celebrated as a day when many people play all kinds of jokes and foolishness...
.
Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse
The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse are described in the last book of the New Testament of the Bible, called the Book of Revelation of Jesus Christ to Saint John the Evangelist at 6:1-8. The chapter tells of a "'book'/'scroll' in God's right hand that is sealed with seven seals"...
', converged on the Bank of England
Bank of England
The Bank of England is the central bank of the United Kingdom and the model on which most modern central banks have been based. Established in 1694, it is the second oldest central bank in the world...
: the red horse against war approached from Moorgate
Moorgate
Moorgate was a postern in the London Wall originally built by the Romans. It was turned into a gate in the 15th century. Though the gate was demolished in 1762, the name survives as a major street in the City of London...
; the green horse against climate chaos from Liverpool Street station
Liverpool Street station
Liverpool Street railway station, also known as London Liverpool Street or simply Liverpool Street, is both a central London railway terminus and a connected London Underground station in the north-eastern corner of the City of London, England...
; the silver horse against financial crimes from London Bridge
London Bridge
London Bridge is a bridge over the River Thames, connecting the City of London and Southwark, in central London. Situated between Cannon Street Railway Bridge and Tower Bridge, it forms the western end of the Pool of London...
and the black horse against land enclosures and borders from Cannon Street
Cannon Street
Cannon Street is a road in the south of the City of London. It runs roughly parallel with the River Thames, and about 250 metres north of it. It is the site of the ancient London Stone.-Etymology:...
. Protesters were at the Bank of England by 11:53. Protest chants included "build a bonfire, put the bankers on the top", and some protesters shouted "jump" and "shame on you" at bankers watching from windows. The police cordoned off thousands of protesters at 12:52 and many of those within the cordon were not allowed to leave for up to seven hours. Tom Brake
Tom Brake
Thomas Anthony Brake, known as Tom Brake, British Liberal Democrat politician. He is the Member of Parliament for Carshalton and Wallington.-Early life:Tom Brake was born in Melton Mowbray, moving to France when he was eight...
, a Member of Parliament and legal observer who was among those 'kettled', has criticised this tactic.
Space Hijackers
The Space Hijackers is a group originating in the United Kingdom that defines itself as "an international band of anarchitects who battle to save our streets, towns and cities from the evils of urban planners, architects, multinationals and other hoodlums"...
were arrested for impersonating police, after being stopped while in a blue 10-ton armoured vehicle, wearing blue boiler suits and riot helmets.
The windows of a branch of the Royal Bank of Scotland
Royal Bank of Scotland
The Royal Bank of Scotland Group is a British banking and insurance holding company in which the UK Government holds an 84% stake. This stake is held and managed through UK Financial Investments Limited, whose voting rights are limited to 75% in order for the bank to retain its listing on the...
were broken by a group of protesters at 13:45, some of whom entered the building and looted office equipment and papers and threw smoke grenades, chairs and eggs There was intense media attention to this event, with a ring of photographers surrounding the people breaking the windows and David Howarth
David Howarth
David Ross Howarth is a British Liberal Democrat politician who was Member of Parliament for Cambridge from 2005 to 2010.- Education and academic career :...
MP later commented that one of the unresolved mysteries of the day was why the moment that a masked person threw the first piece of scaffolding through the window it was observed by hundreds of photographers and film crews already in position. Four people, including a 17-year-old girl, have been charged in connection to this damage. RBS has asked for £40,000 in damages from the teenage girl, who has admitted burglary and criminal damage.
Following the damage to the bank there were violent confrontations with the police with police using batons against the protesters while trying to push them back. Some protesters fought back, including one masked protester who hit police with a pole, resulting in one injury and a smoke or flour bomb was also thrown. A branch of HSBC
HSBC
HSBC Holdings plc is a global banking and financial services company headquartered in Canary Wharf, London, United Kingdom. it is the world's second-largest banking and financial services group and second-largest public company according to a composite measure by Forbes magazine...
also had windows smashed. A journalist reported that the police "were spat on, hit and had vile abuse screamed into their faces from inches away."
A professional photographer saw what they described as "agents provocateurs
Agent provocateur
Traditionally, an agent provocateur is a person employed by the police or other entity to act undercover to entice or provoke another person to commit an illegal act...
" instigating violence. One who was throwing bottles was challenged by protesters, who accused him of being a police officer. He ran to police lines and was allowed through after showing I.D. Tom Brake MP has also said that members of the crowd told him about suspected agents provocateurs who had been encouraging the crowd to throw objects at the police. A police spokesman said that "We would never deploy officers in this way or condone such behaviour."
Bank and Monument stations
Bank and Monument are interlinked London Underground and Docklands Light Railway stations that form a public transport complex spanning the length of King William Street in the City of London. Bank station, named after the Bank of England, opened in 1900 and is served by the Central, Northern and...
as a urinal, although the police said that temporary toilets
Portable toilet
Portable toilet are simple portable enclosures containing a chemical toilet which are typically used as a temporary toilet for construction sites and large gatherings and events. Most of the portable toilets have black open-front-U-shaped toilet seat with cover...
and water were made available to protesters. As people were eventually allowed to leave at about 20:00, they were asked for their names and addresses, and required to have a photograph taken. They are, under the law, obliged to provide their name and address, however they did not need to provide the photograph, but those who refused were put back in the pen.
Commander Bob Broadhurst
Bob Broadhurst
Commander Bob Broadhurst, QPM is the 2012 Olympics Gold Command for the Metropolitan Police Service. He was formerly Commander for Public Order and Pan London Operational Support of London's Metropolitan Police Service.-Police career:...
, the officer in charge of policing the G-20 protests said that the "overall mood" of the 1 April demonstrations was good although "unfortunately small groups of protesters intent on violence mixed with the crowds of lawful demonstrators." A bystander, Ian Tomlinson
Death of Ian Tomlinson
Ian Tomlinson was an English newspaper vendor who collapsed and died in the City of London after coming into contact with the police while on his way home from work during the 2009 G-20 summit protests. A first postmortem examination indicated he had suffered a heart attack and had died of natural...
, died after being pushed to the ground by a police officer.
Squats
Protesters set up four squatSquatting
Squatting consists of occupying an abandoned or unoccupied space or building, usually residential, that the squatter does not own, rent or otherwise have permission to use....
s as bases close to the Bank of England on the 31st March. The police raided an occupied derelict pub in Shoreditch
Shoreditch
Shoreditch is an area of London within the London Borough of Hackney in England. It is a built-up part of the inner city immediately to the north of the City of London, located east-northeast of Charing Cross.-Etymology:...
on the evening of the 31st which had been publicised as a 'convergence space for protesters'; they stopped and searched people entering the building and arrested three people, one on suspicion of assaulting a police officer.
On 1 April Payne House on Earl Street near Liverpool Street Station
Liverpool Street station
Liverpool Street railway station, also known as London Liverpool Street or simply Liverpool Street, is both a central London railway terminus and a connected London Underground station in the north-eastern corner of the City of London, England...
was promoted as venue for workshops, films and accommodation with space to house 'many, many people'. The venue was advertised as a drug-free and alcohol-free centre with no-photography allowed without permission. Police later raided a large Victorian office building in Earl Street and another squatted building, the RampART Social Center, in Whitechapel
Whitechapel
Whitechapel is a built-up inner city district in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, London, England. It is located east of Charing Cross and roughly bounded by the Bishopsgate thoroughfare on the west, Fashion Street on the north, Brady Street and Cavell Street on the east and The Highway on the...
on 2 April, detaining a total of at least 80 people and arresting four. A video of the raid allegedly shows an officer pointing a Taser
Taser
A Taser is an electroshock weapon that uses electrical current to disrupt voluntary control of muscles. Its manufacturer, Taser International, calls the effects "neuromuscular incapacitation" and the devices' mechanism "Electro-Muscular Disruption technology"...
at protesters who are lying on the floor, which would be against police guidelines.
Climate Camp
European Climate Exchange
The European Climate Exchange manages the product development and marketing for ECX Carbon Financial Instruments , listed and admitted for trading on the ICE Futures Europe electronic platform. It is no longer a subsidiary of the Chicago Climate Exchange but rather a sister company...
in Bishopsgate
Bishopsgate
Bishopsgate is a road and ward in the northeast part of the City of London, extending north from Gracechurch Street to Norton Folgate. It is named after one of the original seven gates in London Wall...
Prior to the actual camp a group of participants had played a game called 'capture the flag' in the area on the 27th March which was used by the protesters to familiarise themselves with the locale.
Climate Camp organisers agreed to meet with police and exchange contact details shortly before the protest. The meeting was arranged by Liberal Democrat
Liberal Democrats
The Liberal Democrats are a social liberal political party in the United Kingdom which supports constitutional and electoral reform, progressive taxation, wealth taxation, human rights laws, cultural liberalism, banking reform and civil liberties .The party was formed in 1988 by a merger of the...
MP David Howarth
David Howarth
David Ross Howarth is a British Liberal Democrat politician who was Member of Parliament for Cambridge from 2005 to 2010.- Education and academic career :...
, who was to mediate at the meeting which was to take place at the House of Commons. Scotland Yard confirmed that a meeting was to take place with Bob Broadhurst (police commander) and Ian Thomas (chief superintendent).
The camp, which was intended to last for 24 hours, started at 12:30pm when a camp was established in a section of Bishopsgate between Threadneedle Street
Threadneedle Street
Threadneedle Street is a street in the City of London, leading from a junction with Poultry, Cornhill, King William Street and Lombard Street, to Bishopsgate....
and London Wall
London Wall
London Wall was the defensive wall first built by the Romans around Londinium, their strategically important port town on the River Thames in what is now the United Kingdom, and subsequently maintained until the 18th century. It is now the name of a road in the City of London running along part of...
with tents set up and <
Public Order Act 1986
The Public Order Act 1986 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It creates a number of public order offences. They replace similar common law offences and parts of the Public Order Act 1936...
.
At about 7pm the police stopped allowing people to enter or leave the protest. The police advanced on protesters who put their hands in the air and passively resisted while chanting "This is not a riot", a tactic that emerged over the course of a number of Camp for Climate Action gatherings. There were scuffles with the police in which several protesters were hit and kicked by the police and one policewoman needed medical attention. Within the cordon people carried on playing music and preparing food and until the police began letting people leave at about 11:30pm and cleared the area of the last protesters at about 2am.
Organizers of the Climate Camp have released a report of the protests and the police response, "Demonstrating Respect for Rights", which includes allegations of police using violence to clear the camp after journalists had left. The camp legal team also released a video of the protests, which includes footage of a demonstrator being struck on the head by a police riot shield, and of another man being punched in the face as the crowd retreats from police.
Alternative London Summit
Tony Benn
Anthony Neil Wedgwood "Tony" Benn, PC is a British Labour Party politician and a former MP and Cabinet Minister.His successful campaign to renounce his hereditary peerage was instrumental in the creation of the Peerage Act 1963...
, Ken Loach
Ken Loach
Kenneth "Ken" Loach is a Palme D'Or winning English film and television director.He is known for his naturalistic, social realist directing style and for his socialist beliefs, which are evident in his film treatment of social issues such as homelessness , labour rights and child abuse at the...
, Ken Livingstone
Ken Livingstone
Kenneth Robert "Ken" Livingstone is an English politician who is currently a member of the centrist to centre-left Labour Party...
, John McDonnell
John McDonnell (politician)
John Martin McDonnell is a British Labour Party politician, who has been the Member of Parliament for Hayes and Harlington since 1997; he serves as Chair of the Socialist Campaign Group, the Labour Representation Committee, and the "Public Services Not Private Profit Group"...
and Caroline Lucas
Caroline Lucas
Caroline Patricia Lucas is a British politician. Lucas is the leader of the Green Party of England and Wales, and the Green Party's first and only Member of Parliament in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom...
was scheduled to take place at the University of East London
University of East London
The University of East London is a university located in the London Borough of Newham, East London, England, based at two campuses in Stratford and Docklands areas...
, which is close to where the main G-20 Summit was held. At the last minute the university announced that the whole university would close for the duration of the summit on safety grounds, also that Prof Chris Knight
Chris Knight (anthropologist)
Chris Knight is a British anthropologist and political activist.Following an MPhil in Russian Literature from the University of Sussex in 1977, he gained his PhD in 1987 at the University of London for a thesis on Claude Lévi-Strauss's four-volume Mythologiques...
, an expert in anthropology at the University for 20 years, had been suspended for "inciting criminal action, specifically violence against policemen and women and damage to banking institutions", and that the alternative summit was cancelled. In the event, the summit did go ahead and was held on the lawns of the university and started an hour later than planned; 200-300 people attended.
Operation Glencoe
Gold Silver Bronze command structure
A gold–silver–bronze command structure is used by emergency services of the United Kingdom to establish a hierarchical framework for the command and control of major incidents and disasters...
) was Commander Bob Broadhurst.
Before the event Commander Simon O'Brien said that the capital would see "almost unprecedented level of activity" of protest activity with seven officially notified demonstrations and possibly many more they don't know about. Scotland Yard
Scotland Yard
Scotland Yard is a metonym for the headquarters of the Metropolitan Police Service of London, UK. It derives from the location of the original Metropolitan Police headquarters at 4 Whitehall Place, which had a rear entrance on a street called Great Scotland Yard. The Scotland Yard entrance became...
described the G20 policing plan as one of the largest, most challenging and complicated public order operations it has ever devised. They said that the level and style of activity on the internet suggested a re-emergence of groups with similar aims to the anti-globalisation protesters who turned to violence in 2000 and 2001. They said they were determined to avoid the violent scenes of the 2001 G8 in Genoa
27th G8 summit
-Overview:The Group of Seven was an unofficial forum which brought together the heads of the richest industrialized countries: France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom, the United States and Canada starting in 1976. The G8, meeting for the first time in 1997, was formed with the addition...
in which one protester was killed and hundreds more injured. In the days leading up to the summit, the Metropolitan police
Metropolitan police
Metropolitan Police is a generic title for the municipal police force for a major metropolitan area, and it may be part of the official title of the force...
warned protest groups that the protests on April 1 would be "very violent" and that they were "up for it, and up to it" in the event of trouble.
Kettling
Kettling is a police tactic for controlling large crowds during demonstrations or protests. It involves the formation of large cordons of police officers who then move to contain a crowd within a limited area. Protesters are left only one choice of exit, determined by the police, or are completely...
”, to hold 5,000 people inside a police cordon without food, drink or lavatory facilities. This combined with riot police pushing into crowds with shields and batons.
Ian Tomlinson
Death of Ian Tomlinson
Ian Tomlinson was an English newspaper vendor who collapsed and died in the City of London after coming into contact with the police while on his way home from work during the 2009 G-20 summit protests. A first postmortem examination indicated he had suffered a heart attack and had died of natural...
died after being shoved and struck by a police officer within a police cordon of the G-20 Meltdown protest near the Bank of England. Initially the City of London Police denied that any incident with the police had occurred, and the death was attributed to natural causes.
Including a number of raids on squats
Squatting
Squatting consists of occupying an abandoned or unoccupied space or building, usually residential, that the squatter does not own, rent or otherwise have permission to use....
on 2 April 2009, the police made over 100 arrests and said they had identified and would track down those who had broken the law. A teenage girl was convicted of criminal damage An estimated 5,000 people took part in the protests. It has been suggested that the policing of the event will turn out to have been the most expensive police operation in British history at an estimated cost of up to £8 million, or £1,600 per protester.
One raid on a climate change group the day after the main protests was ruled to have been illegal in March 2010, the Met Commissioner said that it was unlawful to arrest and search protestors and to force them to be recorded on film. Two protesters were each awarded £3000 compensation after the Met admitted the operation was unlawful as there were no reasonable grounds for suspicion.
Response to police tactics
The police choice of "Operation Glencoe" as a codename was linked with the Glencoe Massacre.In the build up to the protests the chairman of the Joint Committee on Human Rights
Joint Committee on Human Rights
The Joint Committee on Human Rights is a select committee of both the House of Commons and House of Lords in the Parliament of the United Kingdom...
, Andrew Dismore, MP
Andrew Dismore
Andrew Hartley Dismore is a British Labour Party politician and a Vice-Chair of the Labour Friends of Israel group who was the Member of Parliament for Hendon from 1997 until 2010 when he was beaten by Conservative Party candidate Matthew Offord.-Early life:Dismore was born in Bridlington,...
, said that "The police have a duty under the Human Rights Act to facilitate protest and not frustrate it. If they act in a confrontational way and use confrontation language, they will start to provoke the kind of behaviour they are seeking to prevent. There may well be a fringe element that want to incite violence. But that doesn't mean police should criminalise every protester." David Howarth
David Howarth
David Ross Howarth is a British Liberal Democrat politician who was Member of Parliament for Cambridge from 2005 to 2010.- Education and academic career :...
, a Liberal Democrat MP, said: "I am increasingly worried that what the police are saying about the protests will end up in a self-fulfilling prophecy. By talking up the prospect of violence they [the police] will put off peaceful demonstrators and start to attract other sorts."
Jenny Jones
Jenny Jones (Green politician)
Jenny Jones is an English politician and prominent member of the Green Party of England and Wales. She currently represents the Green Party in the London Assembly, and is standing to be Mayor of London in the 2012 elections. She was Deputy Mayor of London from May 2003 to June 2004...
, a member of the Metropolitan Police Authority
Metropolitan Police Authority
The Metropolitan Police Authority is the police authority responsible for supervising the Metropolitan Police Service, the police force for Greater London ....
, said of reports of police brutality that "If the police were hitting people who were sitting down with their hands up, we have entered a new era of overt violent policing in Britain that will deter people from protesting and cut back our civil liberties". A police Commander said that their "tactics were proportionate and worked". Jean Lambert, MEP
Jean Lambert
Jean Denise Lambert is an English politician, and Member of the European Parliament for the London Region. A member of the Green Party of England and Wales, she has been an MEP since 1999...
, of the London Green Party
Green Party of England and Wales
The Green Party of England and Wales is a political party in England and Wales which follows the traditions of Green politics and maintains a strong commitment to social progressivism. It is the largest Green party in the United Kingdom, containing within it various regional divisions including...
, wrote an open letter to the Metropolitan Police Commissioner after the event asking for an explanation of the police tactics at the climate camp.
A number of allegations of police misconduct have been reported, including by a press photographer. The IPCC has received 185 complaints relating to police actions at the demonstrations, 40 of which were ineligible and 80 of which concern violence. An officer is being investigated and has received a written warning after writing "Rob Ward can't wait to bash some long haired hippys up @ the G20" as a Facebook
Facebook
Facebook is a social networking service and website launched in February 2004, operated and privately owned by Facebook, Inc. , Facebook has more than 800 million active users. Users must register before using the site, after which they may create a personal profile, add other users as...
status update on the evening of 1 April. Liberal Democrat MP Chris Huhne
Chris Huhne
Christopher Murray Paul-Huhne, generally known as Chris Huhne is a British politician and cabinet minister, who is the current Liberal Democrat Member of Parliament for the Eastleigh constituency in Hampshire...
has noted "the canteen culture of some parts of the Met".
The National Union of Journalists
National Union of Journalists
The National Union of Journalists is a trade union for journalists in the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland. It was founded in 1907 and has 38,000 members. It is a member of the International Federation of Journalists .-Structure:...
has considered taking legal action after Section 14 of the Public Order Act 1986
Public Order Act 1986
The Public Order Act 1986 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It creates a number of public order offences. They replace similar common law offences and parts of the Public Order Act 1936...
was used against journalists covering the protests on 2 April. The City of London police asked them to leave the area at the Royal Exchange for half an hour, and threatened arrest if they refused. Section 14 is to prevent "serious public disorder, serious criminal damage or serious disruption to the life of the community". The police earlier apologised to journalists reporting the 1 April protests at the Bank of England: "Section 14 was applied outside the Bank of England to disperse protesters. There may have been some photographers caught up in that. If so we apologise. We respect the right of photographers to cover current events."
Sir Paul Stephenson
Paul Stephenson (police officer)
Sir Paul Robert Stephenson, QPM was the Metropolitan Police Commissioner, 2009-2011, the most senior police officer within the United Kingdom....
, the Metropolitan Police Commissioner, expressed "concern that the video footage of some police actions are clearly disturbing and should be thoroughly investigated", and a need to be reassured that the use of the containment, or kettling
Kettling
Kettling is a police tactic for controlling large crowds during demonstrations or protests. It involves the formation of large cordons of police officers who then move to contain a crowd within a limited area. Protesters are left only one choice of exit, determined by the police, or are completely...
tactic "remains appropriate and proportionate". Denis O'Connor has said that some police behaviour "fell short of the police medal promise to "guard my people"." Others have defended the policing of the protests. Sir Ken Jones
Ken Jones (police officer)
Sir Kenneth Lloyd "Ken" Jones, QPM was Deputy Commissioner of the Victoria Police and a former President of Association of Chief Police Officers for England, Wales and Northern Ireland in the United Kingdom....
, the President of the Association of Chief Police Officers
Association of Chief Police Officers
The Association of Chief Police Officers , established in 1948, is a private limited company that leads the development of policing practice in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.ACPO provides a forum for chief police officers to share ideas and coordinates the strategic...
, has criticised the lack of objectivity which he perceives has been shown by the media. Jones went onto question the views put forward by Nick Hardwick, the Chair of the IPCC. Jones also stated that he "can't think of any other country that doesn't use water cannons, CS gas, rubber bullets". The Police Federation
Police Federation of England and Wales
The Police Federation of England and Wales is the representative body to which all police officers in England and Wales up to and including the rank of Chief Inspector belong. There are 141,000 members as of July 2009...
has also criticised the IPCC, making a formal complaint about the "deplorable behaviour" of Nick Hardwick, Chairman of the IPCC, for passing "lofty and withering judgment on London's police officers". Home Office Minister Lord West said in the House of Lords that "thousands of officers acted absolutely professionally and proportionately, thousands were actually able to demonstrate peacefully on our streets, criminal activity in the rest of the metropolis was kept to an absolute minimum and the police also maintained high levels of security. And I think we should be extremely proud of them. This does not excuse acts which are criminal and there are now investigations taking place for those particulars." The Mayor of London
Mayor of London
The Mayor of London is an elected politician who, along with the London Assembly of 25 members, is accountable for the strategic government of Greater London. Conservative Boris Johnson has held the position since 4 May 2008...
, Boris Johnson
Boris Johnson
Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson is a British journalist and Conservative Party politician, who has been the elected Mayor of London since 2008...
, has defended the police, and said that "I worry that there are large sections of the media that are currently engaged in a very unbalanced orgy of cop bashing".
Nicola Fisher video
On 14 April, media outlets published video taken during a vigil for Ian Tomlinson on 2 April outside the Bank of EnglandBank of England
The Bank of England is the central bank of the United Kingdom and the model on which most modern central banks have been based. Established in 1694, it is the second oldest central bank in the world...
, near to where he died. A sergeant with the Territorial Support Group
Territorial Support Group
The Territorial Support Group is a Central Operations unit of London's Metropolitan Police Service consisting of 720 officers, that specialises in public order containment among other specialist policing. The TSG is a uniformed unit of the MPS that replaced the controversial Special Patrol Group...
is seen slapping a woman who was arguing with him, Nicola Fisher, across the face, then striking her legs with his baton. The officer's identification number was concealed. The IPCC said it would investigate, and the officer was suspended. Sir Paul Stephenson said that uniformed officers should always display their shoulder identification numbers, as "The public has a right to be able to identify any uniformed officer whilst performing their duty." In September 2009, the officer was named as Sgt Delroy 'Tony' Smellie, and the CPS
Crown Prosecution Service
The Crown Prosecution Service, or CPS, is a non-ministerial department of the Government of the United Kingdom responsible for public prosecutions of people charged with criminal offences in England and Wales. Its role is similar to that of the longer-established Crown Office in Scotland, and the...
announced that it would charge him with assault. The court case against Delroy Smellie commenced in March 2010 and he has been found not guilty.
Another demonstrator, Katie Surridge, has alleged that she was pushed to the ground from behind on 1 April by the same officer who later struck Nicola Fisher. That incident has also been reported to the IPCC. IPCC have announced that there is no case to answer.
Review of the policing of public events
On April 15, 2009, Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Paul Stephenson asked the Chief Inspector of Constabulary to review policing tactics in the policing of public events. Denis O'Connor will review the policing of public events following allegations of two assaults by police during the G20 protests in London on 1 April. He will also assess whether the tactic of containment or kettlingKettling
Kettling is a police tactic for controlling large crowds during demonstrations or protests. It involves the formation of large cordons of police officers who then move to contain a crowd within a limited area. Protesters are left only one choice of exit, determined by the police, or are completely...
is appropriate and proportionate to ensuring people have the right to protest. He said the event was a "complex policing operation", and that footage of clashes with police will be reviewed to check if other incidents need to be examined. Sir Paul stressed that all uniformed officers must wear shoulder identification numbers to be easily identifiable by the public. Among the tactics being reviewed is the crowd-control tactic known as the “kettle
Kettling
Kettling is a police tactic for controlling large crowds during demonstrations or protests. It involves the formation of large cordons of police officers who then move to contain a crowd within a limited area. Protesters are left only one choice of exit, determined by the police, or are completely...
”, used to pen in protesters. Bob Broadhurst
Bob Broadhurst
Commander Bob Broadhurst, QPM is the 2012 Olympics Gold Command for the Metropolitan Police Service. He was formerly Commander for Public Order and Pan London Operational Support of London's Metropolitan Police Service.-Police career:...
, the commanding officer during the protests, blamed any misconduct of officers on the lack of training they receive in crowd control
Crowd control
Crowd control is the controlling of a crowd, to prevent the outbreak of disorder and prevention of possible riot. Examples are at soccer matches, when a sale of goods has attracted an excess of customers, refugee control, or mass decontamination and mass quarantine situations . It calls for gentler...
and on fear. He revealed during a Commons Home Affairs Committee that officers only receive 2 days of training a year.
On Tuesday 25 January 2011, Bob Broadhurst apologised to the home affairs select committee for telling then in May 2009 that no plain-clothes officers were present at the demonstrations; He admitted that numerous City of London police officers had been present at the demonstration, along with more than one Met officer, including PC Mark Kennedy. The Guardian, Tuesday 25 January 2011
On April 14th 2011 the high court has ruled that the Metropolitan police broke the law in the way they "kettled" protesters at the G20 demonstrations in 2009, and also criticised the use of force by officers.
Death of Ian Tomlinson
Ian Tomlinson, a newspaper vendor in the City of LondonCity of London
The City of London is a small area within Greater London, England. It is the historic core of London around which the modern conurbation grew and has held city status since time immemorial. The City’s boundaries have remained almost unchanged since the Middle Ages, and it is now only a tiny part of...
, died within a police cordon of the G-20 Meltdown protest near the Bank of England. Initially the City of London Police
City of London Police
The City of London Police is the territorial police force responsible for law enforcement within the City of London, England, including the Middle and Inner Temple. The service responsible for law enforcement within the rest of Greater London is the Metropolitan Police Service, a separate...
denied that any incident with the police had occurred, and the death was attributed to natural causes. Days later, The Guardian published video showing Tomlinson had been pushed by a Metropolitan Police Service
Metropolitan Police Service
The Metropolitan Police Service is the territorial police force responsible for Greater London, excluding the "square mile" of the City of London which is the responsibility of the City of London Police...
officer and hit with a baton minutes before he collapsed and died.
The Independent Police Complaints Commission
Independent Police Complaints Commission
The Independent Police Complaints Commission is a non-departmental public body in England and Wales responsible for overseeing the system for handling complaints made against police forces in England and Wales.-Role:...
(IPCC) subsequently ordered a second post mortem and set up an independent criminal inquiry to determine whether Tomlinson was assaulted by police, and whether that assault contributed to his death. The results of this second post mortem have revealed that Tomlinson actually died from an abdominal haemorrhage. A police officer has since been questioned under caution in the ongoing probe into Tomlinson's death.
External links
- G20 police assault on Ian Tomlinson - The GuardianThe GuardianThe Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
newspaper's dedicated portal - Police description of events
- BBC summary of events
- G20 protests: full video footage of police tactics on The Guardian website
- Academic analysis of organisation and reaction to the protest from UEL Rising East.