IN THE WAKE of the 50,000-strong anti-racist march assaulted by the police, Tory newspapers have been at the head of a media campaign to criminalise, discredit and frame-up demonstrators.
The Sun, Britain's largest circulation daily, has been printing photographs of anti-racists defending the demonstration from the police assault. £1,000 pounds is offered 'for each thug convicted'. Earlier this week, a front page spread in the right-wing paper named a 'leftie postman' who had been fingered by colleagues.
At the same time, London's Metropolitan Police have been trying to suggest that police on the march were victims of vicious attacks, and that this was the source of the conflict on the march. In fact, provocative police tactics blocked in protestors -forcing many to climb over a ten foot cemetery fence to avoid a crush.
Two eyewitnesses recall 'At the point in the march where the route previously agreed with the police met the road leading to the BNP headquarters (or 'bookshop') the march was halted. Understandably the latter was blocked and heavily policed. Unbelievably, so too was the agreed route. This left tens of thousands of us hemmed in by riot * police with no-where to go.' Another adds 'i was on a raised verge near the front of the march and able to see all that happened in the two hours stalemate when the police would not allow the march to proceed along their own imposed route. I saw the repeated charges made by riot police, heavily protected in full riot gear, and also the mounted police, on the defenceless crowd.' It is clear that the police planned this violent provocation of the rising anti-racist movement in order to victimise those who were prepared to defend the marches, which included families with young children, elderly people and people with disabilities.
Surveillance
Surveillance on the march was very heavy. Police systematically photographed every section of the march as it moved off. Video cameras captured every move made by demonstrators.
The whole scene was set up to pen in and provoke the demonstrators so the police can manipulate the result. This sickening farce was summed by the choice to send a black officer, Les Turner, into the front line demonstrators defended the BNP. nINazi