Anyone seen this clip of a seemingly OTT police raid? Is there more to the story?

[flashbac]

Apparently they raided the building because it had an Extinction Rebellion sculpture on the roof. Apparently arrested the landlord too; just swooped him off his bike when he came to investigate. Scary if true. 40+ police!
twitter.com/Damien_Meade/status/1411643988902354945?s=19

Hmm

So nobody seems to care about police seemingly acting like fascist agents. Right...

I saw it an commented on another thread. People don’t seem to worry about fascism creeping in. It’s appalling policing. There is no backstory. He’s a reputable artist.
I’m not sure at what point the masses will say enough is enough. Scary days.

A rather large number of extinction rebellion "activists" are little better than terrorists and quite frankly it's about time that the police started to treat them as such.
I have no love for the police however the so called left are much more dangerous to peoples rights to free speech and democracy than the police or the current government which is ridiculously scary considering we have a Tory government

@flashbac I have a quick question for you do you believe that a free press is part of a democratic society?
If so how can you sympathise with the people who are trying to destroy it instead of the people who are trying to protect it.
Also that "art" instalation doesn't look safe hanging off the roof

It looks like it was one of three buildings raided during a planned weekend of protests news.met.police.uk/news/met-prepares-for-weekend-of-protest-activity-in-central-london-430285

I used to have empathy for ER when they started out and understood much of their goals, and as annoying I’m sure their original blockades were, I could understand the reasoning, however they seem to have lost sight of that and now are very much defund the Police and losing a lot of support. Aside from the rent a mobs who don’t give a damn about anything or reason and just want a fight.

CabinFever, the trouble is people will make a thousand excuses.

Which extinction rebellion people are like terrorists? Please do name them. Who have they planned or managed to kill? Many are simply middle-aged women, just like the Greenham Common women.

The government has already destroyed the free press and ensured the BBC is pro-government. Murdoch is one of the most powerful people in the U.K.

That art installation by an award winning sculpture, of solid reputation has not harmed anyone. There is no suggestion it posed any risk.

You know we are at a point where any police officer can decide one person making a peaceful protest is liable to arrest?

Mmm! Not sure.

ER round here, quiet, rural, pockets of weird, are obnoxious, aggressive and prone to doing damage to stuff entirely unconnected to whatever their immediate focus is.

Then again it was born in one of the pockets of weird, so maybe I shouldn't be surprised.

The question is, what crime was committed that required the cost of 47 police officers to break down the door? What were they expecting to find that was so dangerous?

Should 47 police officers be doing that or actually protecting people from crime on the streets?

I'm just laughing at that contraption on the roof being called a 'sculpture' and 'Art'....

This sort of thing really pisses me off. Burglaries are ignored and women in DV situations often can't get a single officer out to them, yet they have the resources if someone in power doesn't like a statue!

The facism element is also very scary, people are kidding themselves if they don't think our government is corrupt.

@PomegranateQueen they are different departments and budgets, burglary squads and DV unit officers wouldn’t attend raids such as that one, so it’s not taking away those resources. Although I bet it would be interesting to see how the budgets are divided...

FAQs how can it not be taking resources away, if it all comes from the Met budget?

@gardeninggirl68

I'm just laughing at that contraption on the roof being called a 'sculpture' and 'Art'....

Why is it not art? Tracy emin’s bed was art.

@LemonRoses not all terrorists kill. Terrorism is not about using deadly violence (it can be obviously but not always) its about using fear and intimidation to force political change.
Just look at the campaign of terror against scientists who test on animals by so called animal rights groups (no I don't agree with animal testing) in the 90s and 00s that was outrageous behaviour.
You will also find that many of those animal rights extremists are now involved with ER (no I won't name names on a public forum) and are driving it now.
I disagree with you on who has destroyed the free press in this country nor is the BBC pro Tory. The left are the ones who have forced the press to lie to the people otherwise they wouldn't call tw women when reporting on their crimes they would call them tw.
I disagree with the police having the power to arrest people who are peacefully protesting IF the protest is not preventing anyone else from getting on with their day. However as soon as a protest is disrupting other peoples lives it should be broken up and anyone who refuses should be arrested

The trouble is we don't know if the raid was because of the sculpture, we don't know if the police had information about other things which could have been correct or it could have been rubbish. Say they had been given information that bombs were being made there for a protest and one went off and people killed, everyone would be up in arms that they had ignored the information.

Damned if they do damned if they don't.

We just don't know, maybe it is because Priti Patel didn't like it or maybe not. I don't suppose either side is going to tell us.

It was erected on a roof, without planning permission. It was a potential danger through falling from the roof.
We also only have one side of the story.
I am pissed off with the police getting so much disrespect, mainly from those on here that never know full stories.
They are severely underfunded, blame khan and the government where they decide to place their money for the met.

[quote Cabinfever10]@flashbac I have a quick question for you do you believe that a free press is part of a democratic society?
If so how can you sympathise with the people who are trying to destroy it instead of the people who are trying to protect it.
Also that "art" instalation doesn't look safe hanging off the roof[/quote]
There is no such thing as 'free press'. And not sure what that's got to do with police acting like thugs?

@Rubyupbeat

It was erected on a roof, without planning permission. It was a potential danger through falling from the roof. We also only have one side of the story. I am pissed off with the police getting so much disrespect, mainly from those on here that never know full stories. They are severely underfunded, blame khan and the government where they decide to place their money for the met.

Last time I checked the police don't deal with planning infringements.

Playback error is all I get but from the comments it does seem overkill

The question is, what crime was committed that required the cost of 47 police officers to break down the door? What were they expecting to find that was so dangerous? They were going into a building that could realistically hold far more than 47 people, some of whom have demonstrated by their behaviour that they’re only too happy to have a tear up with the police if given the chance. Do you think they should have sent round a beat officer accompanied by a couple of PCSOs?

Should 47 police officers be doing that or actually protecting people from crime on the streets? This isn’t even a proper argument; it’s akin to people committing driving offences asking the police why they aren’t out catching burglars. If they’re doing something illegal, or are planning on doing something illegal (and I’m not suggesting that they have or haven’t, or that the recent government actions aren’t terrifying) then the police ARE protecting the public by raiding the premises.

Which extinction rebellion people are like terrorists? Please do name them. Who have they planned or managed to kill? Many are simply middle-aged women, just like the Greenham Common women. And, as has been said of the police, many of them are violent thugs who believe that they can do what they like without consequence. Personally, I don’t want either group wandering around thinking that they’re untouchable.

That art installation by an award winning sculpture, of solid reputation has not harmed anyone. There is no suggestion it posed any risk. You can’t just go hanging things on the edge of your roof and expect nobody to be concerned that it has been constructed properly or that one good gust of wind won’t send the lot tumbling to the pavement below. If you or I wanted that on our roof, we’d have to apply for the appropriate permission to do so, and demonstrate that it was safe. ER aren’t exempt from that simply because they have a ‘cause’ or because it has been erected by an artist. Nor should they be. Also, what evidence do you have that the building was raided because of this? They could have been suspected of all sorts, none of which involved the pile of sticks on the roof.

@flashbac have you read the posts you linked to? They link the raid to planned protests of the murdoch group

No, think ER should have been dealt with much harder when they closed down a free press because it did not concur with their agenda (actually I think the press has done much to point out the importance of climate change, but still). This organisation is dangerous. It asserts moral certainty, sees no counter view and this can be used to justify any number of actions as they are in the interests of the greater good. Google the pictures at Canning Town tube station where ER protestors attempted to stop the (electric) tube from running and getting lots of hourly waged staff to work. This clearly created much anger, but hey ER do not care if ordinary folks do not get to eat that week- it is all for a good cause.

Where in that film are they acting like thugs? Presumably they are acting lawfully with a warrant to enter the building, they gain access and enter in an orderly manner. You might not like it but that doesn't make them thugs, if you have other evidence then maybe share it.