Back here I blogged about the protests at the G8 summit in Germany and mentioned how clashes between protesters and police started after undercover policemen tried to grab a couple of the protesters.
At this blog, histologion links to a whole series of articles about police provocateurs who disguise themselves as protesters and then spark off clashes or otherwise try and derail protest marches. It seems to have become a pretty common tactic in the last 5 or 6 years. For example there is this incident about which more is written here:
But something was funny about four members of the black-clad contingent. One of them, possibly the leader of the little group, wore a jacket with the red logo of a music group called "Slip-Knot," popular with globalization opponents. This was unusual, since the others avoided any details which would make them easily identifiable on police videos. And then, as the line of cops took up position nearby, ready to end the blockade, it was these four who started picking up stones from between the railroad tracks and lobbing them over towards the police and shouting, "Get the bulls"! Then one of the other protesters took a good look at the young man with the logo before he had a chance to pull up his bandana mask.
"That's the same fellow who arrested me during a demonstration in Bremen last year!" he cried, and he and his friends made a grab for the four. Two of the four made it to police lines, one disappeared, but they caught the one with the red logo, presumably the leader. They did not treat him exactly gently, it must be admitted, but one of the group organizers took hold of the man, sheltering him from the crowd, and dragged him over and delivered him to the police line -- and safety.
Although this episode ended the stone throwing, the police started up with their water cannon anyway, excuse or no excuse.
The police claim that their undercover agents are only there to observe and do not participate in or provoke any violence.
My favourite photo from the G8 Summit protest last weekend (from a BBC photo-essay):
Here's another (from indymedia): Also from indymedia. I love the little sticker someone put up on this shield: There were attempts to bribe the police to change sides: Some members of the clown army attempted to barricade the barricaders: The G8 kings were also on tour: You can see more of the G8 kings on tour as well as some of the other creative protest banners/installations/costumes here.
Now here is a photo of the incident that sparked off the clashes between the police and some of the protesters. These two guys are plain-clothes policemen and they jumped the guy on the ground in the front as a crowd was gathering to listen to the concert. The other fellow on the ground came rushing in to help and these guys called in the snatch squad that had gathered nearby. The riot police waded in which sparked off the clashes. The incident has actually been caught on video and can be found here. The commentary is in German, so, if like me you don't speak the language, it gets interesting about 2 minutes in.
What's interesting is that the rally had been completely peaceful up to then. The police, I suppose would say they were trying to head off trouble by snatching potential troublemakers before anything started, but their tactics were provocative, and in the eyes of many who were there, deliberately calculated to disrupt the protests. A brief description of the clashes and photos can be found at indymedia here.
The police was quick to blame the violence on the blak-bloc - an anarchist group that has often clashed violently with police at various anti-capitalist demonstrations. Here's a picture of their contingent: But the way the German police handled things has also come into criticism. At the G8 summit in the UK in 2005, the British police had surrounded the blak-block contingent, not letting them march. The clandestine rebel insurgent clown army intervened and rather than face off with the protesters, the police allowed them to march, thereby avoiding any violent confrontation [A somewhat grainy video still presentation of this incident can be viewed here.] You can see videos of the clown army in action here and here. But this video of them in action in Germany is awesome:
The run-up to the weekend protest had already foreshadowed trouble. The German police had come in for criticism even in the mainstream media for its series of raids in early May of various leftist organisations who were gearing up for the G8 summit. Then in a small protest in Hamburg on 28th May police provocations had led to clashes and the march being called off early in protest of police tactics - such as the use of snatch squads against individuals breaking minor rules (covering one's face, having the wrong size billboard etc.). When the demonstration broke up, the participants found themselves surrounded and hemmed in by the police. While some groups tried to break out, others just sat on the street, waiting to be allowed to leave. You can see from this photograph how the protest got hemmed in: The police getting crucial reinforcements: Here's a report on the Hamburg demo. What was clear was that the police were not planning on playing nice at the weekend G8 demo and that obviously had something to do with the violence that broke out. According to the Guardian, 16,000 police are being deployed for the coming week of demonstrations in order to "halt violence".
Good luck with that.
IZ
P.S.: The BBC website has a basic primer on why people are protesting against the G8.
"That's the same fellow who arrested me during a demonstration in Bremen last year!" he cried, and he and his friends made a grab for the four. Two of the four made it to police lines, one disappeared, but they caught the one with the red logo, presumably the leader. They did not treat him exactly gently, it must be admitted, but one of the group organizers took hold of the man, sheltering him from the crowd, and dragged him over and delivered him to the police line -- and safety.
