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this site was made to give you information about "carnival against capitalism" demonstration in London and the riot that followed. If you have any other cool links about it, please mail me !!!click for the coverage in...
BBC The Times The Guardian The Indepent on Sunday j18 site
BBC:Violence erupts at debt protest
and this is what Murdoch's TheTimes says:
June 19 1999, BRITAINAnarchists in fistfights with City traders
BY ADAM SHERWIN, ADRIAN LEE AND TIM REID
LONDON was paralysed yesterday when a march against capitalism degenerated into violence, leaving 50 injured and a trail of destruction.A quarter-mile stretch of London's financial district along Upper Thames Street was severely damaged, with most of the windows smashed in many buildings. Anarchists fought hand-to-hand battles with City traders inside the Liffe building, home of the international futures exchange.
The Corporation of London was forced to cancel last night's cricket World Cup dinner at Guildhall for 600 guests. The Underground, already affected by repairs, was thrown into chaos as several stations closed during the unrest, timed to coincide with the opening of the G8 Summit in Cologne. Lengthy traffic jams continued into the evening. In one incident more than 50 masked protesters burst into Le Quai, a bar by the Thames, smashing every window. A McDonalds outlet and a Mercedes Benz garage were ransacked. Police charged at 2,000 protesters on Upper Thames Street. Three men and a woman were taken to hospital for head injuries and paramedics treated ten people.
Nearly 4,000 protestors had gathered in the City for a day of protest against capitalism, described by its organisers, J18, as a carnival. Police made six arrests, three people were in custody last night.
The protest, which included environmental, animal rights and anarchist groups, turned violent after a woman was run over by a police van at Liverpool Street. Aiofe O'Hanolan, in her late teens, was taken to hospital with leg injuries.
Copyright 1999 Times Newspapers Ltd.
The Guardian's coverage:
Day the City turned into a battlegroundProtests began in a carnival spirit, but then the mood turned ugly and buildings were trashed and cars set on fire: Human chains were formed around the treasury and demonstrators abseiled down Tower Bridge
John Vidal and Libby Brooks Saturday June 19, 1999
A long day of carnival and peaceful protest against world debt, the arms trade and financial institutions turned into a riot yesterday afternoon as demonstrators trashed a McDonald's, wrecked part of the Futures Exchange, set fire to a bank, and destroyed cars and empty flats in the City of London.
In some of the worst public disorder since the 1990 Trafalgar Square poll tax riots, many people were injured as the policeused water cannon and baton-charged up to 2,000 mostly peaceful demonstrators on horseback. By early evening, there were running battles in side streets with a hard core of protesters hurling stones and bottles, breaking into buildings, throwing out files, setting fire to papers and breaking ground floor windows.
Earlier in the day peaceful human chains had been formed around the treasury and protesters had abseiled down Tower Bridge. Banners were hung from office blocks, and more than 3,000 people danced and partied for three hours near Liverpool Street station.
The uncoordinated day of action across London by up to 40 different groups,mostly concerned about economic unfairness in poor countries, was timed to coincide with the start of the G8 world leaders' conference in Cologne.
It began with 250 cyclists bringing City traffic to a standstill in the morning rush hour. By 10.30am, nearly 100 activists representing Campaign Against the Arms Trade were protesting around banks and investment houses. Many workers had been given the day off and firms had advised staff not to wear suits.
Walking into NatWest, Lloyds, and Friends Provident, they handed out leaflets to staff and customers, and tried to padlock themselves to bank furniture. Others scaled the Friends Provident building, unfurling a huge banner. Campaigners said that they aimed to bring home to those involved at every level their involvement with the arms trade.
Inside Lloyds bank in Cheapside and the NatWest bank, protesters attached
themselves with bicycle locks, remaining inside for over three hours, while the bank was forced to close to customers.Later in the morning, in Parliament Square, banging drums and shrieking whistles accompanied the formation of a human chain against world debt which encircled the treasury.
By lunchtime, more than 3,000 people had gathered in Liverpool Street station, where, led a samba band, they entertained City workers by crawling over the marble facades of the insurance houses, dancing in the sunshine and waving flags.
But the party turned ugly after lunch when protesters walked down London Wall and were blocked by police. Three riot police vans were immediately surrounded, with demonstrators dancing on top of them. The police retreated at speed, running over one woman. Demonstrators sat down in front of police vans. One man was injured after he fell in front of a police van.
By 4pm the McDonald's restaurant in Cannon Street had been gutted, with chairs ripped out, glass broken, graffiti daubed on walls and food thrown in the street. After a Mercedes and a Jaguar were wrecked, several hundred people then broke into the Futures Exchange, breaking all the glass in the lobby and damaging the escalators.
With trading for the day on the point of finishing, 400 people were evacuated from the building. A spokesman for LIFFE (the London International Finance, Futures and Options Exchange) said: "We were advised to evacuate to protect lives."
Police brought in heavy reinforcements and tried to move the protesters towards the Thames. A series of mounted charges scattered the crowd. As people were moved on, a hard core of militants broke into empty apartments and smashed windows, while police reoccupied the Normand bank, where a small fire had been started.
The battles raged down Broken Wharf and Upper Thames Street with several hundred police charging every few minutes on horse and foot. A car was set on fire, and more damage to property was done.
Lord Peter Levine, lord mayor of London, last night blamed drink and a hard core of protesters for the damage. "These people, many with sincere points to make, allied themselves to a mob. The whole point they were trying to make has been lost."
• Additional reporting by Jay Griffiths and Alice Lynch
The Independent on Sunday
16 held, 46 hurt as carnival turns to carnage across Square MileBy Sophie Goodchild
The cost of cleaning up the carnage left in the City of London by violent
clashes between anarchist demonstrators and police last week is expected toAt least 16 people were arrested on public order offences in Friday's mob
violence which left 46 people in hospital including six police officers and two
demonstrators. CCTV footage may reveal the identities of other suspects.Police said the 4,000 marchers turned from peaceful protest to riot when the demonstration was hi-jacked by anarchists, intent on organised violence, who targeted unprotected police.
City of London officers said the campaigners had a track record of extreme
violence and had refused to co-operate with police in route-planning the
"Carnival Against Capitalism" march. Protesters say police inflamed the
situation by using officers in riot gear. In the worst street violence since the poll tax riots in 1990, police were attacked with bricks and concrete blocks. A Daimler and a Mercedes were set alight and protesters used scaffolding poles to smash into banks and trading firms. One motorist was dragged from his car and doused in bleach.The protests are understood to have been organised through the Internet by an umbrella movement called J18, for June 18, timed to coincide with the Group of Eight economic summit in Cologne, attended by Prime Minister Tony Blair.
Separate J18 groups, including environmentalists Reclaim The Streets and
Jubilee 2000, were protesting against capitalism, saying it is destroying the
environment and forcing millions into poverty.James Hart, assistant commissioner for City of London police, said between
5,000 and 10,000 people had been expected and his 800 officers were briefed with units from the Metropolitan and British Transport Police. The protest started peacefully, with a few hundred marchers in the City but by early afternoon the numbers swelled to about 4,000, gathering at Liverpool Street Station."Clearly these people came to the City yesterday with the full intention of
causing mayhem," said Mr Hart. "The situation changed at Liverpool Street
when a very carefully organised crowd split into four parts, and aimed their
violence at unprotected police officers. We tried to remove the focus of the
violence, which at that time was the police and thought ... the violence would end, but it did not."Lord Levene, Lord Mayor of the City of London, dubbed the offenders
"terrorists". He said: "If you have people throwing bricks and scaffolding then the police have to have protection in the form of riot gear. Usually people holding demonstrations talk to the police before. In this case they refused."But one protester, Mark Lines, told BBC Radio4's Today programme: "Police in full riot gear and looking extremely offensive charged at the demonstrators and started attacking them."
Ann Widdecombe, shadow home secretary, called for an investigation. "Every year there are hundreds of demonstrations in London and there have been emotional ones which the police have controlled. In this case something went wrong and we have to find out what," she said.
"There has been a severe drop in the police force which is something Jack
Straw [the Home Secretary] has to take responsibility for. But it is no good
blaming the police if individuals are causing trouble. You cannot describe this as a protest. It was about violence."
...but what has really happend? http://bak.spc.org/j18/site/uk.html
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