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Scoop Images: Cat & Mouse In Monopoly Land
Images of today's protests in Mayfair London. Beginning at 1pm protestors marched in small groups around London's richest real estate shadowed by convoys of police vans full of police, and accompanied by beat policemen who appeared to make very little attempt to direct the protestors movements.
Overhead several police helicopters kept an eye on events while every second street corner was occupied by a plain clothes officer with a walky talky.
The protestors split into small roving groups in order to avoid being locked in by lines of police.
Last year the same demonstration turned into a very unpleasant experience for many of the anti-capitalist protestors, when several thousand of their number were surrounded at Oxford Circus by police.
Somewhat controversially from a legal perspective, everybody inside the cordon was detained from 3pm to 9pm including some very upset bystanders and tourists. With rain,and the absence of toilets, water or food added to the mix, last year was not an event today's protestors wanted to have a rerun.
The protest in the afternoon in Mayfair passed completely peacefully, at least so far as this observer was aware, though clashes with police were reported in the evening news from other actions around the city later in the day.
The following images were during a stroll around with the protestors between 1pm and 3.30pm today. They are arranged chronologically and captioned to give an idea of what is going on and where.
In no way do these images seek to represent the events of the day, as there appeared to be a large number of different groups moving about during the protest in Mayfair, and there were many other protests on simultaneously elsewhere in the city.
- images and photos by Alastair Thompson reporting from London.
It's business as usual in
Mayfair, just business behind plywood for some
shops.
Police vans line up around a
square in the heart of Mayfair.
In Grosvenor Sq. A group protests against George W.
Around 1.30pm we catch up with a roving band of protestors when they emerge from a street behind us.
A protestor is arrested and
searched.
Two anti-capitalist protestors enjoy a stroll down Oxford St, near the intersection with Bond St.
Park Lane proves no
obstacle.
.... for wheelchair bound dinasour man...
.... who heads on past the US Embassy,
Nor for for a couple of
lager-louts tagging along for the fun.
At Grosvenor Sq long lines of police vans are positioned to protect the US Embassy. The way is blocked.
...a phalanx of bobbies moves to cut off the protestors escape route.
...hence this band of protestors use an alternate route.
As they go by a Police photographer in the midst of the protest group clocks Scoop.
Alastair Thompson
Scoop Publisher
Alastair Thompson is the co-founder of Scoop. He is of Scottish and Irish extraction and from Wellington, New Zealand. Alastair has 24 years experience in the media, at the Dominion, National Business Review, North & South magazine, Straight Furrow newspaper and online since 1997. He is the winner of several journalism awards for business and investigative work.
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