7 August (Part 4) - Eggs and a beating
Further and much longer video from Lancaster
confirms what was said earlier; nothing much went on. Shouting Lefties alongside
family groups. The police were wandering around town in pairs in a way which
used to be common in every shopping centre on a Saturday afternoon and the
streets were not especially crowded. A man was
delivering a speech from the sidelines about the state of the country and the
police didn’t like it but they were persuaded by bystanders that he was
absolutely peaceful and merely stating facts. They shuffled off. The good thing
was that a police presence was deterring shop lifters at least one of whom was apprehended.
Stoke
Later video showed that after
the armed Muslims frightened the locals away, the
police managed to contain them and observe their retreat to the safety of their Mosque.
I don’t think any of them will be heading to jail.
Preston
There were not huge numbers of people in the town square, it was never crowded
and maybe there were 200 in total if you count everyone on the periphery.
Antifa had gathered somewhere near the middle of the square with families
gathered all around them. They must have felt safe enough or they would not have
stood in such a vulnerable position. There was no exceptional police presence and certainly not in riot gear.
Antifa felt obliged to resort to their standard taunts and before long two or
three lads in hoodies who had climbed the main feature of the square, some sort
of obelisk, threw eggs at them. Three according to the commentary; one
landed harmlessly close to the cameraman.
The police who were not especially close made a move towards
the obelisk and the
culprits and everyone else nearby did a runner into the shopping street. The
police couldn’t catch them so instead they brought down an enormous fat lady.
Wrestled to the ground and her double chins pushed into the pavement by about
five police officers with another half dozen or so surrounding them.
The woman was so fat that her arms could not hang by her side and there was no
way she could swing them around her ample bosom. I doubt she could throw an egg
across her kitchen, let alone half way across the town square.
But the police had claimed their prize.
Shoppers and protesters if there were any made their opinion clear but the
police threw their victim into the back of a van. The video ended there.
Plymouth
Devon
may have seen more mindless violence than anywhere else. Different to Rotherham
and Liverpool where there was arson but the confrontations with the police were a good deal worse.
Mr. Bird showed a brief video of peaceful flag waving and marching but elsewhere
or later it was very different.
The setting was outside a lovely old church alongside a dual carriageway with a
very substantial central reservation. Continuous Iron railing close to four feet high.
On the church side of the road was a large Antifa group doing what Antifa does.
In front of them was a long line of riot clad police, helmets, shields the lot.
Beyond the central barrier stood the opposing crowd. Very few mothers with
children but quite a lot of young women, possibly only teenagers and quite a lot
of ‘hard men’. Not all of them, some were pretty ancient and unsteady on their feet.
Mingling with the riot police were several officers liaising with the Antifa
people and handing them notes. It was all very odd and gave credence to rumours
that Antifa may include Government agents. It was also notable that Police Liaison
Officers were videoing the protestors but not Antifa. Two tiered policing?
The stand off was menacing and the riot police decided that it was a good idea
to jump the central barrier and confront the aggressors more directly. It turned the dual
carriageway into a duel carriageway.
Missiles began to come over from the Antifa side but whether they were responsible for them or interlopers had squeezed behind their
ranks is impossible to say. Whatever the case the church precinct had been transformed into a battle ground.
There were numerous acts of madness, generally by the same people over and over
again. Their friends sometimes tried to drag them away but they seemed to be intent on getting a prison sentence.
One man in a pink shirt was well past his sell by date but he repeatedly
confronted the police at very close quarters. One officer not unreasonably
barged him with his shield and the old man rolled over backwards.
Meanwhile younger fighters brought a policeman who looked to be well past
retirement age to the ground and several police and hooligans grappled on the
floor before running away. There may have been an arrest.
Young women thought it was fun to open police vehicle doors, riot vans too. Why
was access to the prisoner cages open to all?
Antifa seemed to have disappeared and the battle became very much thugs versus
police with the occasional thrown firework. The police looked to be losing the
plot or the battle or both and just as I was thinking why don’t they retreat for
their own safety and leave the rioters with no one to fight, they did exactly
that. A long snake of police officers disappeared into the distance.
And the riot was over. There was no one left to fight.
That’s it for today. Tired of reporting
violence I will be looking for light relief in a new 4k disc
of a film called ‘Boy Kills World’ and turn the Atmos up loud. I am sure it
must be a peaceful story of misunderstood youth.
It is said that there will be disturbances in London this evening. Stay at home
or be very careful. I don’t want to see Bexleyheath making headlines here.