Police raided and arrested 57 protesters Tuesday ahead of the summit of the G-8 group of major industrial nations next week in Northern Ireland. The raids could be a harbinger of much larger protests by environmental and anti-poverty groups, in keeping with the widespread protests these meetings have drawn in previous years.
The Guardian newspaper reports that police raided the central London headquarters of G-8 protesters on Tuesday. Hundreds of officers were deployed to enter the building in what protesters believe amounted to an act of police brutality.
Squatters inside the building accuse police of using heavy-handed tactics after they were led out by officers who forced their way inside after a three-hour standoff.
“I think it’s police brutality, to enter a completely legal squat,” said one unnamed protester to the Guardian. “They’re just trying to stop any protests. It’s pretty scary.”
Members of the group Stop the G8 have been holding a “Carnival Against Capitalism,” protesting outside banks, hedge funds, and mining and oil firms in central London this week.
Eyewitnesses say one person was removed from the building and was taken away in an ambulance. They claim he was bleeding and was being given oxygen.
This was confirmed by a London Ambulance spokesman who said, “We treated two patients at the scene of the protests in central London. Both have been taken to hospital with minor injuries.”
The police raid has not slowed protesters who demonstrated Friday in London’s Canary Wharf district, which is home to major banks like Barclays and JP Morgan. Roughly 100 people representing environmental, anti-poverty and women’s rights groups carried banners reading “Capitalism = Crisis” and “Power to the People.”
The G-8, or Group of Eight nations, is a collection of the world’s eight wealthiest countries; the U.S., the U.K., Russia, Japan, Italy, Germany, France and Canada collectively account for nearly 41 percent of the world’s gross domestic product.
Protesters blame the leadership of these countries for promoting a neoliberal pro-business agenda that favors corporations over the needs of citizens. The complaints are similar to those launched during the Occupy Wall Street movement in 2011, blaming underregulated banking practices for the 2008 financial crisis.
“It feels like ordinary people are paying for the financial crisis whereas banks are getting away with it,” said Lianna Etkind, a 28-year-old worker for a disability charity.
“The businesses and banks of Canary Wharf are deciding on, funding and profiting from projects that created the economic crisis and the climate crisis,” said Emma Wilding, member of a group called They Owe Us. “We have come to this pinnacle of capitalism to resist and challenge this because this is where the decisions are made that ruin our lives.”
The G-8 meets periodically to discuss trade agreements and economic development among the countries. It’s a who’s-who meeting for the captains of the global economy — and frequently is met with large protests.
During the July 2001 G-8 meeting in Genoa, Italy, a mass demonstration of an estimated 200,000 people ended in violent clashes with police. Dozens were hospitalized, with protesters claiming police used heavy-handed tactics to push them far from the “Red Zone” where the actual meeting was taking place. Additionally, hundreds were arrested for rioting and property destruction.