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Indybay Feature

The Gleneagles Protests: Dealing With Blair's Police State

by Z
Blair called police from all over the UK to Scotland to police around the g8 summit in the largest police action in UK history. As millions were spent defending a few small fences from relatively peaceful protesters and the UK media hyped a few rocks thrown (with no substantial property damage or injuries) by locals at police in Edinburgh as the largest riot in 200 years, actual violence took place in London as bombs went off on the subways and a bus was also blown up. Blair has shown that keeping keeping voices of dissent from Bush and Putin is more important than protecting the people of London.
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The morning of July 6th in Edinburgh started with police refusing to allow buses to leave for the permitted Gleneagles protest. Police officers came on the buses and told everyone the protests were "cancelled" but people refused to get off the busses and eventually a small protest forced the policx eto allow the buses to leave.
§Protesters Demand Buses Be Allowed To Leave
by Z
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§Blimp over the summit
by Z
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The bus was routed all over the place for hours before it finally was alloweds to go to where the protest started. The one way we could tell where we were in relation to the summit was the blimp that was flying over it.
§Bus stopped near summit
by Z
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We waited at this road block for several minutes before the police let us move. A few groups got out with their banners and a few people got off the buses and went by foot to the march's starting point (they got to the march before the buses since we were soon routed away from the area as the police lied to the drivers claiming they wer sending us to the march but instead routed us on side roads into the middle of fields)
§Police at road block
by Z
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§Loction of first major road block
by Z
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§Fences
by Z
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Fences around Gleneagles as seen through the bus window
§Police go by in rented van
by Z
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Police came to the summit from all over the UK. There were police vehicles from London as well as most other major British cities. Some apparently had to rent cars.
§Police along the march
by Z
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Thousands of police lined the entire march
§A Chinook flies overhead
by Z
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The helicopter flew low over the march several times. The first few times it did this it landed and let off police but the later flying seemed more aimed at harassment.
§Police get out of Chinook
by Z
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§Police March through crowd
by Z
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§Police at the fence
by Z
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Hundreds of police protected two fences that surrounded the summit buildings.
§Police filmed most of those on the march
by Z
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Later in the day police ran into the crowd and arrested individuals, apparently becasue of things they filmed earlier in the day.
§Chinook
by Z
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This may be the Chinook that Blair took the next day to London to mourn the London deaths that took place while a good portion of the UK's police were busy preventing Putin and Bush from hearing any voices of dissent.
§Chinook flies over rally at end of march
by Z
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As we returned to the Indymedia center after the protest, the police pulled over and searched these two men who had gotten off of the protest bus. Perhaps they were targetted because of photos taken earlier in the day or perhaps it was just because they were wearing all black.
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