Splitting the Camp

If his men are harmonious, split them. Quote from The Art Of War

 

We have now established that Mike Raddie surrounded himself with homeless people during Democracy Village.  While activists were trying to move them on from the camp, Mike was encouraging them.  To the point that he had two crack addicts living with him in Bovingdon Close.

We also know that he tried the same thing with South Coast Climate Camp by bringing one of the most destructive people from Democracy Village to the camp.  It my belief that this was done to cause problems within the camp, not least those that we faced in the Village.

I believe that Mike would have done the same thing with OccupyLSX had he been in a position to attend on a more regular basis.  However, there were a number of activist that Mike was avoiding because of his shameful behaviour towards one of them

Mike only visited the camp twice in the whole time it was set up.  On both those occasions I was with him.  Despite this, Mike penned the following article when Occupy was less than a month old.

The Article

Some Questions For Occupy London Stock Exchange by Mike Raddie 23 Nov 2011

We’ve been hearing rumours which if true, have some of us here at BSN quite worried. Hopefully somebody from the London Occupy camps can shed some light on the queries below and put our minds at rest.

 

1) Is it true that Reuters are acting for the camp as a conduit to the media? Do people think this is a good idea? Why use the mainstream media in this way (especially Reuters with their terrible track record of lies by omission and their obvious interest in maintaining the current financial system) when there is a functioning media team / working group who are more than capable of communicating directly with the outside world?

 

2) Is it true that the same small group of people are the only ones present at every process meeting? If true and assuming this meeting does indeed set the agenda for the General Assembly (GA) meeting, can anyone see a potential problem with this? If a proposal is made which no-one in the process group agrees with, will it be given the same consideration and equal time at the GA as other proposals?

 

3) Do people consider the Guardian ‘Occupy CiF’ section a positive addition in terms of raising awareness?

 

Does anyone remember what happened to the environmental movement after the Guardian got involved?

From Media Lens: “This is exactly how the Guardian and other liberal media responded to the explosion of environmental concern in the 1980s. That was a huge, determined surge of public outrage. The Guardian did its best to co opt it, embracing many Green spokespeople and even creating a supplement, Environment Guardian. That, like much media coverage, defanged and kettled the arguments with nonsense about ‘green capitalism’ and ‘sustainable consumerism’. ‘Moderate’ Green spokespeople were given lucrative media careers, became household names (they often went on to work directly with other corporations). The big emphasis was on not alienating the media, deemed crucial allies – the Guardian was a kind of heroic force for Greens. Less ‘moderate’ Greens were completely ignored or reviled by the media without resistance from ‘moderate’ Greens keen to remain ‘part of the conversation’. That gave the media huge control over the debate.

 

What happened? The movement became shallower, trivialised, and lost momentum. The media gave the impression that the environment was under new, caring management. And now? The Green movement has been almost erased from the mainstream and media like the Guardian are all about promoting endless economic growth, high status mass consumption, conformity, passivity etc – even though the environment (notably the climate) is in a far worse state.”

Hundreds of police officers approached Zuccotti Park in Lower Manhattan on Tuesday morning. Did this photgrapher just happen to be in the right place at the right time or did the police alert the friendly media of their plans ahead of the early morning raid on Occupy Wall Street?

I believe this article was composed to cause splits within the ranks of Occupy, Mike was offered to attend the meetings he is talking about in this article, but he refused.

Thankfully his article had very little impact, had he been in a position to attend the camp more regularly, I believe his behaviour would have caused major problem for the camp.

Original Article can be found here

 

 

 

Suggested methods for blockading a Petrol Station

If you have decided to take part in this action here are some suggestions on closing the station.  Its important that you think about security.  For example allow one person from your affinity group to know the location of the station.   Do not discuss the action online or via mobile phones.  Its best to discuss face to face.  Think about how you will get your message out? Have you identified members of your group to take pictures and get the message out online?

ACTION CALL OUT FOR 8th OF FEB

So now you have identified your target. Find a local station near you

1) Do a recce prior to the action, get pictures.  Look at possible ways onto the roof.  Most Shell Petrol Stations are built in exactly the same style.  A small ladder will help you access the roof, sometimes this isn’t neede

2)             How long do you plan to stay there?  If you are staying overnight make sure that you have enough supplies and warm clothes.  Think also about shelter a small pop up tent can be helpful in this scenario.

3)             Make banners here are some examples of banners

4)             Remember to always mask up, there is no doubt that this action will be under surveillance from the MET police or the local police of the area your action is taking place.  Do not allow yourself to be recorded in any way by the police.

 

5)             Arrest is possible for aggravated trespass, therefore think about this before taking part, if you do then decide to take part, I would suggest writing the name of a good solicitor on your arm in permanent marker.  I use HODGE ALLEN AND JONES. 07659 111 192

6)             Consider how you will resist any attempts to remove you.  Will you use lock ons or D Locks? Maybe even a tripod.

 

Lastly, do have fun and see you all on the streets, if you want to be involved with a London protest, please email occupyoil@riseup.net

Read about the Shell to Sea Campaign here

The Escape Committee

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Protestors have put peace banners on scaffolding at the top of the tower of St Margarets, the House of Commons church in Parliament Square SimonMaresITV

 

“Get up! Get your stuff together! Get up” This is definitely not the way I wanted this rooftop protest to end. Surrounded by a very assertive specialised rope team from the Metropolitan Police. Consisting of four climbers, of varying abilities. I had met their gaffer before; Brian had the pleasure of removing me from the Houses of Parliament.

 

I am not a morning person and this part of the battle they had clearly won. I wasn’t too happy. It was only 930am in the morning, I had dosed off to catch some sleep. The night before I had given my bivvy bag to Maria to keep warm and get some sleep. It’s my most prized piece of kit. Without it I was freezing most of the night and very uncomfortable.

Despite this very unhappy ending, we had brought a clear message right on the front door of parliament. The police had intended this area to be a sterile zone. We had other plans.

 

It was a dangerous and audacious plan and we pulled it off. I am always reluctant to write about actions after the fact. I don’t want to give away intelligence of tactics to police. I will endeavour to do my best with this piece not to discuss anything they do not already know.

We had decided to go in the night before, having constructed a piece of kit that would act as a make shift ladder. I commented to M, that had we been in a Stalag, we certainly would have been on the escape committee. Being up high cerntainly does have a feeling of escaping the insanity of the society we live in.

At 930pm we moved, no one can ever prepare you for the fear that can be brought on in situations like this one we had undertaken. I have managed over the years to channel it into a form of focus. The piece of kit we put together was around 25 long and had number of pieces of woods attached to act as footholds. I am hoping to get a picture of it through the data protection act.

 

“Take the rucsac from your back” Said M, I really was not too sure about this climb. Fear was taking over, with nerves I nearly attempted it with a very heavy rucksack. I had images running around my head of myself falling and causing serious damage. The elevation of this wood was the steepest thing I have ever climbed.

“Slow it down, fuck sake slow it down” The voices in my head said, for once I was not arguing with them. After what seemed like an eternity, we were in. Next was M, If I thought I was scared before, this was worse watching someone else and worrying they would fall and hurt themselves. I felt powerless, however after some time we got in.

Next came the long climb up to the tower. It took us maybe 30 minutes, On arrival, there was only one thing to do first. Hug, its become a tradition with Maria and I. It very hard to describe in a blog or indeed in words. That moment when you realise that as a team you have achieved something that hours before was seeming impossible in your head.

We had a number of banners; they said Cut the War, Troops Home and On Strike for Peace. On our arrival on the top platform, we had the police helicopter in the sky, within the hour we also had Gold Command from the Metropolitan Police onParliament Squarewith some members of the rope discussing their options. It was no doubt that this wasn’t in their plans, the two days precious to this there had been a heavy police presence in Parliament Square, they must have been kicking themselves.

As always, I had negotiated with Westminister Abbey Staff and the police to ensure we were there on the tower at least to the beginning of the march by the strikers. It wasn’t to be,

“Never trust a peeler my son” My fathers voice resonating in my mind, offering timeless advice. It was clear from the arrest operation that the police didn’t want us there, it was embarrassing for them. They sent the top brass, a FIT Team and Evidence Gathering Team and van loads of cops.

On the scaffold, Brian began to search me, even before I was arrested. When I challenged him, he couldn’t offer any explanation of the law that said he could do this search lawfully. However, 170ft up surrounded by plod, I wasn’t going to argue. That battle is for another time.

We were taken down after 12 hours of occupation, and held for 12 hrs in a police cell, aggressively questions. Thankfully both of us done a no comment interview and we were released without charge. We live to climb and fight another day.

What I will take away from that day is this

Again….. as if I didn’t already understand… NEVER TRUST A COPPER, they are not your friends. They are not the 99%

Palestinian Flag flies proudly over Parliament

Storm the Banks

Congratulations to all those 171 tents and comrades who are occupying St Paul’s court yard in the City of London. To be honest and i feel we really need to be honest , the main aim of the protest has not been achieved. There is no doubt we could spend countless hours, even days debating the reasons for this partial failure to occupy the City. Maybe that debate and discussion is for another time and place. Despite my concerns prior, during and post this action, I will continue to support it in a show of solidarity. We must work with the hand that we are dealt. The question now is, what next? How to we exploit this opportunity so close to the beast.

We can’t allow sectarianism or egos destroy this opportunity to bring a very strong message to the thieves who live in this part of the City. There has been much debate on twitter about the negativities of this project, I will put my hand up and admit that I too got caught up in this in the hours after the occupation, the old saying, tis better to light a candle than complain of the dark brought me back to my senses.

However, I known through my own experience that long-term occupations have limited effect and can be easily ignored.

DIRECT ACTION is a must in this time of political upheaval. Organise yourselves into affinity groups who hold similar ideas about protest. Start planning some actions, there are loads of resources available online, in the form of activist handbooks for planning actions. Many videos are available on YouTube.com, showing past successful protests. Not only are these inspiring and encouraging they offer some real practical techniques in terms of lock-ons, tripods for holding a space and many other useful tips. I would suggest watching the Crude Awakening action from October 2010, it can be found here Crude Awakening

During the world wide protest movement of 1968, it was recognised that the access to Television across continents helped shape civil rights protests in many countries. I therefore think that social media can not be ignored as a powerful tool at our disposal. Use it wisely, let’s not give away too much information regarding our plans online. This was obviously a downfall for Saturdays protest, imagine the possibilities if the location would have been a closely guarded secret?

On a final note, I am looking forward to Halloween at the occupation, I know many affinity groups have plans for a big party. One of which, Dancing on the Grave of Capitalism will be taking place from 4pm

See you there