Posts Tagged ‘trafalgar square’

Why I Bailed Out Of The G20 Protest Early

Wednesday, April 8th, 2009

Stability ? Growth ? Jobs ?

Evolution | Reversed | Let's Break Something

A week ago, while in London, thousands gathered at Embankment to take advantage of some pre-planned traffic diversion to get their ideologies noticed. The underlying reason for the march was a call for accountability and responsibility, but its difficult to understand how we set a good example. Where I was marching safely and peacefully, the crowds behind me took to shattering windows and erupting in spates of ill behaviour at police lines, not too far behind.

I arrived in London the Saturday morning of the protest just in time to catch all the hype on the tv over breakfast. I wanted to meet a friend at Embankment, she was late, I took off on the march without her. I wasn’t trying to come across as an anti-capitalist, although I did want to hear what the pro-environmentalists had to say.

But there’s a reason why I bailed out at Trafalgar Square and headed for the relative safety of the National Gallery: There’s just something altogether far too disturbing about British crowds. (more…)

Tags: g20, london, protests, trafalgar square, violence
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