G20 Protesters 'Will Try to Bring London to Standstill'

[babylonsister]

G20 Protesters 'Will Try to Bring London to Standstill'
Police fear anti-capitalist groups will seek violent confrontation on streets

by By Mark Hughes and Jerome Taylor


LONDON -- Next month's G20 summit will present an "unprecedented" challenge as up to 2,000 protesters attempt to bring London to a standstill, the Metropolitan Police admitted yesterday.

The 20 world leaders, including Barack Obama, are to visit the capital for the summit on 2 and 3 April. They plan to discuss ways to tackle the global financial crisis.


Italian riot police clashed with anti-capitalist protesters in the centre of Genoa in July 2001 when the city hosted the G8 summit

But their presence is expected to encourage a large number of protests, with scores of activists from an array of different causes determined to generate publicity from demonstrations around the event.

The majority of protest groups have promised to demonstrate peacefully, but there are fears anarchist and hardcore anti-capitalists from Britain and abroad will try to fight police in pitched battles reminiscent of the anarchist riots of the late 1990s which caused millions of pounds of damage.

Senior officers at Scotland Yard say they are aware of several groups which plan to converge on the City of London financial district to cause blockades, and attempt to get inside major banks including the Bank of England.

One organizer is believed to be a senior lecturer at the University of East London. Some groups are said to be considering filling roads with sand and then sending children to play in it, making it impossible for police officers to forcibly remove them.

more...

http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2009/03/21-2

[nxylas]

1. Protesters rarely "seek" violent confrontation

However, I'm sure the police will ensure they get it anyway.

[Zenlitened]

2. Hmmm... I thought London's bankers had already done that?

:shrug: