road protests 1998
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Date: Sun, 06 Sep 1998 17:11:57 +0100
From: Cornerstone Resource Centre
Subject: EF!NE-ACTION UPDATE NO.51 SEPTEMBER '98
RTS Reports - Sheffield - Bristol
SHEFFIELD
The police wanted Not Another RTS in Sheffield, but then so did the 'organisers', intending it to be in the spirit of the old 70s Jubilee street parties, minus the Queen. A dual carriageway location was negotiated, and a few hundred partygoers, 'protected' by about three times that number of cops taking many holiday snaps and videos of the colourful throng, and a helicopter, proceeded to play football & human draughts to the rhythms of Orpheus (Sheffield’s very own 'Rinky Dink' pedal-powered sound system), before being escorted to a pedestrianised area.
BRISTOL
“We’re up for it today; we know you’re just a bunch of professional anarchists”, sez Chief Inspector Copper. And so they were, with mounted police, helicopter, and many baton-beatings, plus the use of CS gas. The sound system didn’t get through, an 8 foot long hedgehog was squashed, but the police’s reaction only made people more determined, and by the end of the day, there were up to 500 RTSers. The planned roundabout location was blocked by police all day, so party-goers spilled onto surrounding roads, including the M32, to be met by mounted police. 59 arrests, 8 charged. Nearby IKEA, currently the target of a local campaign, closed for the weekend and hired security.
road protests 1998
| road protests (current)
| movement links