UK police using violence against student protests. London, Birmingham,

Currently we have a student strikes and protests all across the UK.

In some places the police have been accused of being very heavy handed, in some cases physically assaulting students and even arresting journalists.

Here's a twitter feed: twitter.com...

The hashtag trend #copsoffcampus is highlighting the brutality through eye witness accounts.

stream.aljazeera.com...

Students reported mass arrests on Wednesday and Thursday. Many shared a video that appears to show a police officer punching a protester during the eviction:

The video: www.youtube.com...

www.standard.co.uk...

Students 'punched and dragged to the ground by their hair' as police break up sit-in

Those kettled are now being arrested one by one. Our editor has been handcuffed. There is blood on the pavement. #copsoffcampus.

Police seem to be kettling and arresting students, staff & protestors en-masse

In other universities, students are being forbidden from legally protesting. With more arrests elsewhere.

www.theguardian.com...

"The students' union firmly believes in the right of students to peacefully protest against practices they deem unfair, and condemns the intimidation of students undertaking peaceful protest action by university management."

www.theguardian.com...




www.channel4.com...

The Metropolitan Police are accused of "brutality" by students after 100 officers storm a London university to clear a protest occupation.

reply to post by mr-lizard


How do students strike? Do they not go to class or do their homework?

SirMike
reply to post by mr-lizard

 

How do students strike? Do they not go to class or do their homework?

It might help you if you read the links, that's usually a good way of digesting information. But as for protesting, well they have hundreds of ways, but that's not what the topic is about. It's about police using excessive force against protesting students.

The Metropolitan Police are accused of "brutality" by students after 100 officers storm a London university to clear a protest occupation.

Naturally, the students would accuse the police of brutality. In this day where every student has a smart phone one would have thought the videos of brutality would have gone viral by now. Methinks "brutality" is getting them to move on, hurting their feelings and ruffling their hair. Students are so radical these days.

Regards

reply to post by paraphi


Sorry you think democracy is a problem. Unlike you I think students have a right to vote, protest and be a part of a democratic movement. This is why we have the freedom to protest. Sadly this is being trampled by a draconian element of our state.

Journalists being arrested is also a massive threat to free speech.

Thanks for your views.

reply to post by mr-lizard


ehh ... you come to fight, dont whine when you get hit. I have personally seen examples of protesters doing everything they could to provoke the police and then they scream blood murder when they get a baton in the stomach.

How is a small group of protestors "occupying" a building that isn't theirs and denying access to other students who need to use it a legitimate form of democratic expression? It sounds more like extortion to me.

Vote, march, talk all you want but the second you try to escalate the situation for publicity get ready for a whompin.

SirMike
reply to post by mr-lizard

 

ehh ... you come to fight, dont whine when you get hit. I have personally seen examples of protesters doing everything they could to provoke the police and then they scream blood murder when they get a baton in the stomach.

How is a small group of protestors "occupying" a building that isn't theirs and denying access to other students who need to use it a legitimate form of democratic expression? It sounds more like extortion to me.

Vote, march, talk all you want but the second you try to escalate the situation for publicity get ready for a whompin.

edit on 5-12-2013 by SirMike because: (no reason given)

But why SHOULD that be the case when they came to PROTEST, not fight. Do you understand the notion of peaceful protest?

Judging by the responses so far, it does indeed seem less and less people are bothered about anything and are becoming more complacent to the violence and insanity that surrounds us.

I miss the ATS of old. The majority of people would never have tolerated this. Judging by the attitudes of the people who have responded, it's like I'm talking to children. 'whompin' ... How old are you?

For those who ARE interested, here's a statement (with some explanations and further details of the last few days events:

In the past month universities across the country have been subject to unprecedented levels of violence from the police, targeting a resurgent wave of activism against the privatisation of the university system.

Across the country, students are initiating a vibrant, popular, winnable fight for democratic and public universities, free from exploitation and repression. We cannot be beaten if we stand together.

In the past week, police have violently evicted, beaten, and arrested students from peaceful occupations in London and sent undercover police officers to spy on students, arresting 3/4s of the union sabbatical team. They have attempted to recruit students to act as informers against fellow student activists in Cambridge, and attacked protests against outsourcing in Sussex. Across the country, managements are using injunctions and violence to suppress dissent; at Birmingham, students were threatened with
£25,000 court costs.

The scale of the police’s response has never been witnessed on British universities. Students beaten, strangled, having teeth punched out, dragged across roads, and violently bundled into vans. This cannot be allowed to continue.

The violence of the police is not just a student or education issue. For years the Metropolitan police have been able to beat, arrest and murder citizens in London with impunity; the IPCC functioning as nothing more than cover for unaccountable, systematic violence.

Groups all over the country are calling for a national day of action on Wednesday December 11th – with local action and a demonstration in London. This event is being set up as a reaction to this call; we are relaying this call for urgent solidarity.

***What is #copsoffcampus?***

We stand for an education that is public and democratic, free for all. Campuses should be places for inquiry, critical thinking and dissent. Across the country, students and workers are fighting for that vision. Students and workers united hold all of the legitimate power. We are the people who give our institutions life and make them function.

The only power that management ultimately has is police and state violence. They can’t win the argument, but they can – and do – call in the cops, assault and intimidate us. With an agenda of austerity, the authorities are behaving in an ever more violent and repressive way.

Our response is to mobilise harder.

mr-lizard
Sorry you think democracy is a problem.

You cannot draw that statement from what I said.

People always have the right to protest - I did it often when I was a student - topically anti-Apartheid. However, give me proof that the police have been brutal, as per the OP. Seems to me that protesters always complain of harsh treatment when they are moved on. I suppose that if you fight to sit down you will be disappointed if someone fights to pull you up, but that's not brutality.

Regards

reply to post by mr-lizard

I miss the ATS of old. The majority of people would never have tolerated this. Judging by the attitudes of the people who have responded, it's like I'm talking to children. 'whompin' ... How old are you?

Yeah for the last year, noticed a huge change and it hasn't been pleasant in the least.

The police not only typically do the violence, and unjust actions during protests, but masked bandits, often agents in drag, do most of the illegal activities in protests, like plants.