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Pepperazzi

Ellie Keen — Sun, 19 Oct 2008 18:14:45 +0000

Cops attack as Smash EDO demo paints the town red again…

Over 400 people gathered in Brighton on a very wet Wednesday in the latest protest called by Smash EDO against local bomb factory EDO MBM/ITT. The last demo, in June (See SchNEWS 634), saw protesters invading the factory grounds and smashing windows. This time the cops were determined to have an overwhelming presence. At noon Sussex University campus was occupied by large gangs of cops as people arrived at the demo’s start point at the uni entrance.

Police tactics soon became obvious. As the crowd gathered they issued a Section 60 notice, giving them the power to remove masks. Trying to stamp their authority, they quickly set about the gathering crowd demanding people remove any kind of face covering, photographing everyone and generally using any tactics to intimidate, attempting to seize banners and alienate as many onlookers as possible.

Initially shocked – the mob soon found the resources to fight back and just after midday the march burst into life. The red and black-clad crowd sprang into action to the rallying call “Get behind the banner”. Behind the sturdy, massive SHUT ITT! banner – reinforced with a wooden frame – and waving flags, the noisy bloc moved at pace through Stanmer Park and out onto the Lewes Road, filling both lanes.

At least ten pairs of police evidence gatherers with long lenses, video cameras and spotter cards, including the Met’s Forward Intelligence Teams (FIT) were in evidence from the start but spent most of the march foiled by FIT Watchers (See SchNEWS 639). Hundreds of copies of FIT Watch’s spotter cards were distributed complete with photos, names, numbers and descriptions of FIT police likely to be in attendance. Whenever FIT teams appear, shouts of ‘Block That Shot’ is becoming a call to arms for activists sick of only being able to protest whilst constantly under surveillance.

CAGE FIGHTING

Multiple sound systems and makeshift instruments kept spirits up in the procession towards the factory. Police seemed to have taken a leaf from the anarchist book and handily blockaded the whole of Lewes Road for several hours, with 8 vans bumper to bumper, urging people towards their sanctioned ‘protest pen’ at the bottom of Home Farm road. Unsurprisingly the idea of being herded into a massive steel cage surrounded by a sea of fluorescent baton wielding cops didn’t appeal to anyone. Determined to march on, people surged towards the police lines, pushing the cops back behind their line of vans. Heavy use of pepper spray and batons on those at the front took the sting out of the crowd, who, nursing bruised bodies and the ill effects of an impromptu chemical eye-bath at the hand of Sussex’s finest, split into two groups. Half the crowd stood their ground, eyeballing the cops, whilst others in small groups gradually headed off-piste, up the slope and into the woods towards the back of the factory.

PUT THE KETTLE ON

Marauding bands of masked militants swarmed through the forest, whilst clueless coppers couldn’t see the hoods for the trees. In a hail of irony, laser-guided paint-missiles bombarded the factory’s roof – staining the factory walls blood-red in a spot of unrequested decoration. After scuffles in the woods and open fields where someone narrowly avoided castration via a police dog bollock-biting attack, a group of about 50 managed to reclaim Lewes Road nearer town before being joined soon after by other cross-country cells and marched towards town.

By half two, the crowd on Lewes Road had begun to disperse and the police line had moved across the road, freeing up one lane of traffic. The remaining crowd were able to launch themselves down Lewes Road towards the Level. Fearing that 100 or so anarchists might not cause enough trouble, the cops kindly contributed towards the mayhem by sending some 25 vehicles to create a police traffic jam stretching halfway down the road.

When the converged marchers arrived at the Level (traditional end point of Brighton demos), police backed off, thinking that the crowd had had enough. As it turns out, the up-fer-it protesters saw the police begin to disperse and made a break for it to storm the city centre, with the local Army recruitment centre as a goal. Still singing and chanting, they carried on, pursued by police until they were finally kettled near Queens Road. Seeing their plight, locals started harassing the cops, kettling in the kettle and throwing food and water to the stalwart marchers. Police eventually followed the protesters to the beach for their final push, where they nicked a pebble-thrower.

With a total of around ten arrests, one sore scrotum, plenty of bruised knees, inflamed sinuses, and stinging eyes, the last 100 intrepid protesters completed the 5½ mile anti-arms trade mini marathon to bathe aching feet in the sea. Andrew Beckett, spokesperson said “We didn’t let the police control events. We went where we wanted, when we wanted. All the police from four counties weren’t able to stop us making our stand against EDO/ITT”.

See www.smashedo.org.uk

THE SmashEDO Carnival Against the Arms Trade

Ellie Keen — Sat, 07 Jun 2008 16:42:19 +0000

It’s not rocket science…

Nostrils still flaring from the stench of spray paint and pepper spray ….yer SchNEWS crew reports from the frontline of the anti-arms trade struggle, Brighton styleee. Yep its the event we’ve been relentlessly pushing for the last two months – the Carnival against the Arms Trade.

With red flags flying, three soundsystems, a cardboard tank and the inevitable samba band around 500 people were met by a surprisingly small number of police on the Level in Brighton. At around 1pm having confirmed the factory was open the march moved off towards EDO MBM, around a mile and a half away, chanting “Smash, Smash EDO.”

As soon as the crowd turned up the road leading to the weapons factory they were confronted with a pen constructed from crash barriers and a section 14 crowd control order. Police obviously planned to contain the demo well away from the site, but the masked up-for-it crowd of activists had other ideas. The cage was swiftly taken to bits and used to push against police lines. One soundsystem ended being used as a battering ram. One red bandanna sporting protester told SchNEWS “We came here to fight the arms trade – we’re not gonna be pushed into a playpen.”

As the police resorted to wild baton strikes to hold the crowd back they were outflanked and pushed down the road. The carnival then staged a noisy demo fully occupying the road outside the factory. Although it looked as if most of the workers had been sent home early – a few of the suits had hung around on the top floor perhaps to watch the action. Well they must have loved the bird’s eye view they got next…

Someone tugged at one of EDO’s massive steel gates which suddenly and miraculously opened. Half a dozen gobsmacked protesters waved the main crowd over. Flag wielding activists piled onto the factory’s forecourt and a few plucky individuals literally smashed EDO, putting in their windows. Anti-war slogans were sprayed on the building and MD Paul Hill’s SUV copped a few bricks. Police eventually forced people out with batons, pepper spray and dogs.

Eventually having made their point forcibly the crowd moved back into town before police re-reinforcements arrived. Ten arrests were made in total during the fighting, although many more were de-arrested in displays of crowd solidarity. Police violence hospitalised a number of others.

On the way back into town the scuffling continued with one motorbike cop getting his Chips as he was covered head to toe in white paint. In a pathetic display of childish temper tantrum one gang of riot police smashed the cardboard tank to pieces.

A Smash EDO spokesman said: “Overall the day was a victory for the campaign – in the face of police brutality we were able to show the massive disgust that exists at those who profit from death and misery. They might accuse us of being violent but anything that happened today pales in comparison to the damage inflicted by EDOs products in Iraq, Palestine, Afghanistan and Somalia. Congratulations to all who took part for their action and initiative and strength in refusing to be intimidated by the police aggression.”

THE COMPANY

EDO manufacture vital parts for “smart” bombs, used extensively in Iraq, Lebanon, Palestine and Somalia, but they’re only as smart as the person in charge – ultimately the Commander in Chief, aka Dubya. EDO Corp were recently acquired by ITT in a multi-billion pound deal. ITT’s links to fascism go back to the 1930s. The founder Sosthenes Behn was the first foreign businessman received by Hitler after his seizure of power.

After the Iraq War (not that it’s mission accomplished) there has been a four year relentless campaign against EDO in Brighton. Despite an injunction under the Protection of Harassment Act (which failed) and over fifty arrests the campaign is still going strong. Their avowed aim is to expose EDO’s complicity in war crimes and shut them down. There are regular Wednesday afternoon demos when workers leave the factory.

For more info about the Smash EDO Campaign See www.smashedo.org.uk

* For more coverage of the Carnival Against The Arms Trade with photos see www.indymedia.org.uk/en/actions/2008/edo

* Webpage for the Carnival www.smashedo.org.uk/carnival

* ON THE VERGE – The Smash EDO Campaign Film, produced by SchMOVIES, the film police tried to ban, is available to buy for £6 incl p&p (profits to Smash EDO) or download – see www.schnews.org.uk/schmovies/on-the-verge

Self Defence

Ellie Keen — Sat, 24 May 2008 12:05:26 +0000

As students are denied legal aid for imprisonable offences

Reckon students are all bone-idle skiving filth who haven’t even got the wit to tie their shoelaces properly? Well then you’d be in disagreement with Judge Parsons (of Brighton magistrates). He’s just refused legal aid to seven students up in front of his bench for ‘aggravated tresspass’ (punishable by up to three months inside) on the grounds that “they are intelligent enough to represent themselves”.

The seven are accused of D-locking and supergluing to EDO MBM’s infamous factory of death in Brighton on the fifth anniversary of the Iraq War. Despite the fact that the student protesters are all in their first year and none are studying law, the judge is perhaps paying the defendants a compliment in considering them equal in legal know-how to a barrister (who study for around six years before they are considered ready to defend their clients). They are under stringent bail conditions to stay away from EDO MBMs factories.

Of course legal aid is gradually being whittled away for all of us (See SchNEWS 618). But the decision to cut off the supply this time is interesting in the light of how many cases against EDO protestors have ended in failure for the authorities (See SchNEWS 535). Campaign spokesman Andy Beckett told SchNEWS

By robbing these defendants of their rights to adequate legal representation, the authorities are launching an attack on our campaign as a whole. They’ve been forced to drop cases when it looked as if evidence of police collusion with the factory owners was about to emerge. But that evidence only emerged after careful examination by trained solicitors. The whole thing smacks of a desperate attempt to secure convictions against supporters of our successful campaign.

The National Union of Students is up in arms at this abuse of the student’s status to trick them out of their right to legal representation. In the words of the USSU education officer;

That students are being denied legal assistance simply because they are students is disgraceful. A fair and public trial is a human right. When students take on international arms dealers without legal representation it is laughable to claim that the proceedings could be fair or equal. At a time when civil liberties are under attack nationally, this court is specifically targeting students as an isolated and disempowered group.

To support the defendants, fight for civil liberties and take action against the arms trade join Smash EDO at the Carnival Against The Arms Trade…

Research and Destroy

Ellie Keen — Fri, 19 Oct 2007 19:51:26 +0000

EDO MBM, a Brighton based weapons manufacturer, has been the target of a sustained campaign by local peace activists for four years. Research into the company has been of vital help to the campaign; allowing us to distribute accurate information to the public about: the company’s contribution to global conflict, to mount defences in civil and criminal cases, and to demonstrate not only just against EDO, but its suppliers and associated companies. Particularly controversial has been the supply of arms to Israel, something the company has gone to great lengths to conceal. Research into the company has been conducted by telephone, through disclosures from former employees and through recourse to the Internet and public records via the Freedom of Information Act.

EDO Corp, EDO MBM’s parent company is ranked by Defence News as number 67 in the world’s 100 largest arms companies, with a turnover expected to reach $1billion by the end of 2007. They supply military aircraft accessories and, more recently, technologies for the US intelligence agencies. The corporation now employs 4,000 people, mainly in the US. Its only European base is at its UK subsidiary, EDO (UK) Ltd which employs 148 people, mostly at its defence section EDO MBM Technology Ltd in Brighton. This section specialises in making Paveway ‘smart bomb’ interface systems (with US arms company Raytheon), bomb release units (with US aerospace company Lockheed Martin), arming units, and flexible circuits for US, UK, NATO and the Israeli Air Force.

Smash EDO, the protest campaign, started in 2004 after local press revealed that the firm had been awarded the contract for the next generation of Paveway IV ‘smart bombs’. These guided missiles were the most used munitions dropped during the initial ‘shock and awe’ bombardment of Iraq by US/UK forces in 2003. EDO MBM were also involved in the development of the Storm Shadow cruise missile, first used in Iraq by both UK and US forces. They also make parts for tanks, helicopters and unmanned combat air vehicles. Early on, research into the company revealed direct links between its supply of Israeli F16 bomb release units, and war crimes committed by the Israeli military in the Occupied Territories. At the same time, rather than admit what was clearly on their own website, the company decided to actively conceal their supply to Israel: a move that continues to have ramifications three years later as the false witness statements of EDO MBM directors in court come to light. Rather than dispel protests, the attempted cover-up has led to even more determination on the part of campaigners to expose the lies of the company through research work.

In 2005, the Attorney General supported EDO MBM’s claim for a permanent ‘injunction against the world’ with which the company sought, under the protection from Harassment Act 1997 at the High Court, an exclusion zone against anybody who might wish to protest against the company; threatening a five year prison sentence for breaching its conditions. The injunction named 14 activists and two protest groups: Bombs out of Brighton, and Smash EDO.

Research by the defendants revealed that the company had unlawfully solicited police intelligence and case files on activists from police forces across Britain, with the involvement of the police’s National Extremism Tactical Co-ordinating Unit (www.netcu.co.uk) Eventually the company and it solicitor Timothy Lawson Cruttenden were found by a High Court judge to have ‘flagrantly disregarded’ the legal process. EDO MBM lost the case. At the same time dozens of criminal proceedings against demonstrators were dropped by the Crown Prosecution Service, when it became clear that the police had colluded with the company to secure arrests that would give the impression of a serious need for the injunction in the first place. In July 2007 the IPCC refused to investigate protesters’ collusion allegations as they were said to be ‘command and control’ issues that were beyond the scope of the IPCC investigatory powers. However, civil claims against the police are still being pursued.

EDO MBM’s accounts show that the failed injunction cost them one million pounds, (equivalent to a whole year’s profits) and EDO MBM lost 22 employees (falling from 170 to 148).

After the injunction victory, actions against the Brighton-based company’s premiseson Home Farm road intensified. On numerous occasions activists occupied the roof, or locked themselves to the gates. As a result activists have been put on trial for ‘aggravated trespass’ under our old friend the Criminal Justice Act 1994. Crucially the offence is defined as ‘trespass on private land with the intent to disrupt lawful activity’. Repeatedly activists have given the justification that EDO’s business is not lawful. With each new criminal court action against arrested activists, company directors have been forced to give evidence for the prosecution, seeking to cover up their supply of components to Israel.

However, committed researchers have begun to expose EDO MBM’s lies in court. Lies that stretch back to 2004. Documents unearthed by this ongoing research into the company have proved a valuable resource to defence lawyers cross-examining directors of EDO MBM who take the stand. In response, the company’s directors have employed any means to avoid involvement in such court action. Despite the enthusiasm of Sussex Police to arrest and prosecute protesters, directors of EDO MBM have preferred to, as in one example, cut down their own security fence to gain access to their factory rather than allow the police to arrest activists who were blockading it. The investigation of the company continues.

Every new fact that exposes EDO MBM’s cover-up and reveals more of EDO’s complicity in UK, US and Israeli war crimes continues to boost the campaign.

More information: www.smashedo.org.uk

Under Pressure ...

Tim Holmes — Mon, 15 Oct 2007 15:05:46 +0000

... AS SUSSEX POLICE STEP UP THE CAMPAIGN TO SMASH ‘SMASH EDO’

“This is the most heavy handed policing we’ve seen outside this factory in over two years. EDO have used Sussex police as their rottweilers before and their efforts have ended in failure and humiliation for the company. This is a desperate act by a failing company. The community has shown time and again that this aggression will not silence us. We will continue to protest against EDO until it has been shut down.” – Sarah Johnson, spokesperson for Smash EDO

It’s been quite an exciting couple of weeks up on Home Farm Rd, Brighton. The campaign Smash EDO have been pulling out the stops, and Sussex Police – for their part – have been clutching at straws with equal grit and determination. It seems that the cops have finally woken up after the humiliation of the failed injunction against Smash EDO (See SchNEWS 531) and are now trying to botch together a de-facto injunction through the selective application of local bye-laws and ancient statutes. The past two weeks has seen the highest numbers of arrests since the collapse of the injunction in February 2006.

Last week an early-morning action and some strategic application of super-glue saw Managing Director Paul Hills having to smash a window of the company premises so he could get to work (see SchNEWS 605). A person filming the action had their camera confiscated under a highly dodgy interpretation of the Police and Criminal Evidence Act.

But in a more onimous sign of legal battles to come, five were arrested that day, mostly for aggravated trespass and obstructing police, but all have now had their charges altered to ‘Conspiracy to Cause Criminal Damage’ – a much more serious offence which carries a maximum life sentence. They are in Brighton Magistrates Court on Thursday October 18th at 10am to have their cases transferred to the Crown Court.

The ‘Bad Karaoke’ demo this Wednesday (see Crap Arrest) saw police use a 1972 council noise bye-law – designed for loud neighbours and street drunks – to arrest two protesters and confiscate sound equipment. The member of the public ‘offended’ by the racket was one Paul Hills. The police then imposed Section 14 of the Public Order Act, nicking three more, penning the rest of the demo and pushing them halfway down the hill, away from the factory gates.

For the recent Smash EDO Action Camp (See SchNEWS 601), police trotted out the old 1875 Public Health Act – originally written to combat the spread of cholera – as a pretext to break up the camp.

Is this just the reaction of a weary plod to persistent demonstrations, or could there possibly be any connection between this recent excessive policing and the hostile takeover of EDO being attempted by German firm ITT (ex-Nazi former suppliers of planes to the Luftwaffe)? The campaign in Brighton against EDO MBM has made tangible dents into US parent company EDO Corporation’s share price, as ethics-bypass investors read about the protests in the finance papers and kept away.

Either way, give them what they don’t want and make sure that you come along to the Annual Masked Halloween Demo outside the factory on Wednesday 31st October, 4-6pm, EDO, Home Farm Road, Brighton. Come in a costume and don’t forget your Halloween mask…

Smash EDO Noise Demo – every week outside EDO MBM, Wednesdays 4pm-6pm.

For more see www.smashedo.org.uk