May Day protestors warn of "nation of criminals"
May Day protestors warn of "nation of criminals"
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Tuesday, 21, Apr 2009 05:35
Protestors are planning on gathering outside the Bank of England next week to demonstrate against the police handling of the recent G20 protests.
Planned to coincide with May Day, the group Space Hijackers has called on people to dress as either convicts or prisoners and gather outside the bank at 17:04 BST on May 1st.
Those dressed as convicts are advised to wear striped clothing and stand in a designated "prison yard".
The "police" are being asked by the protest's organisers to dress in high-visibility or "riot black" clothing. They are urged to "encircle the prisoners to p**s them off and start some fights". They are also asked not to accept food or drink from those dressed as convicts.
Those dressed as the police are also asked not to wear fake police ID numbers and cover their faces as a way of drawing attention to the reports Metropolitan police officers failed to wear their official identification during clashes at the G20 protests earlier this month.
A poster on the Space Hijackers website defiantly declares: "If they want a nation of criminals then let them have it..."
The protest comes as the police continue to face fierce criticism over the way the G20 protests in central London were controlled on April 1st.
The head of the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) will face questions from MPs later today over the handling of the demonstrations and the death of Ian Tomlinson at one of the protests near the Bank of England.
Mr Tomlinson died as a result of internal bleeding and footage has since emerged appearing to show a police officer striking the 47-year-old with a baton before pushing him to the ground.
Police had originally claimed there was no contact between officers and Mr Tomlinson and he had died of natural causes.
A spokeswoman for the Met told inthenews.co.uk there were no details on policing of the May Day protest at present.
The Space Hijackers group were behind the stunt where an armoured vehicle was driven towards the Bank of England on April 1st, with a number of protestors arrested after being found with fake police uniforms.