Indy Media Watch

Via UK Indymedia comes possibly the best post-protest argument of all time:

They didnt have to send down as many as they did in riot gear. I wonder how many pedestrians who were just walking past and had nothing to do with the bookfair got caught up in it all.

It wasnt a riot until the police turned up.

Here's how it started. According to the article:

The [anarchist] bookfair at the resource centre today was extremely well-attended, and a very positive and optimistic coming together of many types of people concerned by the way our authoritarian society is developing. the day ended in a fitting but terrifying and wholly unnecessary practical demonstration of our violent police state.

when the event ended at six o clock, many of the participants went to the local 'coronet' pub for a drink. the large space was packed. a small group switched on a sound system for some entertainment, and the pub manager reacted astonishingly by closing the bars, refusing to serve anyone in the pub and calling the police.

According to subsequent comments it wasn't that entertaining and the pub owner's reaction wasn't astonishing at all:

Are you surprised that the landlord wanted to close the bar? The coronet is a music-free pub. A lot of the punters drink in there for this very reason. So a group of quasi-crusty 'anarchists' decide to selfishly impose their soundtrack onto other people. They talk about anarchy and 'freedom'. What about freedom for other people to enjoy a quiet pint?

Controversy continues:

I was in the pub when that rubbish was going down. Those wankers should be ashamed of themselves. They come into a pub, where most of the people were enjoying a few drinks and catching up after a great day of meetings and socialising, and turned on their excuse for a sound system. It was intrusive to us and the regulars who were also enjoying their saturday afternoon. They were asked on various occasions to turn it off, by staff, anarchists and locals. The worst part of it all is that they seemed to take great delight in refusing to give a fuck as to what others thought. I asked them to turn it off and they laughed. The bar closed and they refused to open it again until it was turned off. They could have done it then. But no, on/off/on/off/on/off, just to piss everyone off. The arrogant fuckers knew what they were doing. Assholes. It took someone to take one of the speakers and smash it to the floor before they finally got the message and pissed off. By then the staff had had enough. Not really surprising when some crusties play load incoherent garbage at full volume, must have thought they were reliving J18. Someone needs to have a word with them and tell 'em to grow the helll up.

Quite. But remember, it wasn't a riot until the police turned up. In closing, a delightfully English comment:

Anarchist muppets - Those twats who took the soundsystem into pub were unbelievable. They were the ones who caused that shit last night. Serious anarchists should cut all ties with those crusty dickhead lifestylist arseholes and tell them to fuck off.

Until next time...