Blog 9 - Occupy London’s anger over police ‘terrorism’ document

Source

Malik, S. (2011, Dec. 5). The Guardian. Retrieved from http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2011/dec/05/occupy-london-police-terrorism-document.

Worldwide people are protesting against financial cuts, growing poverty

and capitalism in the financial sector

Summary

Occupy activists in London are angry at the police now they have noticed that their movement is listed among terrorist groups like al-Qaida and Farc. The City of London police sent a terrorism/extremism update to local businesses with detailed information about the Occupy’s activities in town. According to the Occupy movement, activism is not a crime. It should not be a cause for concern for the police in a free country like the UK. However, the City of London police do not agree and hold to their opinion. They say that they have seen crime that was linked to the protests.

 

Reaction

 

Protests against authorities and companies are not unusual. I mean that it is not a whole new issue in society. Each year there are protests against animal cruelty, innocent prisoners and so on. What surprises me the most is that the police have so much difficulty with the Occupy movement. It is in my opinion absurd to say that the movement is equal to a terrorist group like al-Qaida. Yes, some of the Occupiers have damaged properties, but they do not blow themselves up or plant bombs at government’s buildings. The only thing the activists want is that the government will pay more attention to the current financial situation. Since when is holding a protest board a crime?