G20 protests: how mayhem was plotted in dingy pub cellar"People are angry," Prof Knight announced gruffly as he convened the meeting. "The public will surprise us on the day."
Sitting behind a desk piled high with thousands of fake anti-capitalist bank notes which he intends to distribute outside the Bank of England on April 1, he made it clear to his cohorts that the ultimate aim of the protests was "to overthrow capitalism".
The main object of the meeting, he said, was to arrange "Phase two" of the protests which will begin today – forcing London businesses to switch off their lights at 8.30pm to mark Earth Hour, an international energy-saving switch-off.
Protesters would fan out across London, he envisaged, to target landmark commercial buildings and, if necessary, entering them to switch off the lights themselves.
But after listing Canary Wharf and the BT Tower, Prof Knight appeared to run out of ideas.
Prof Knight, who believes the world will abolish international borders and
become a single country by June of this year, often went off on baffling tangents, at one point calling for the Bank of England to be converted into a state-run brothel.
...
Prof Knight said after the meeting that: "If Gordon Brown deploys his riot police, or sends in his agents provocateurs to start trouble as an excuse to attack us, all hell will break loose."
His supporters have tried to dismiss his comments as tongue-in-cheek, but police remain convinced that a hard core of anarchists will try to hijack the protests
today, regardless of what Prof Knight has to say.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/financetopics/g20-summit/5062450/G20-protests-how-mayhem-was-plotted-in-dingy-pub-cellar.htmlTodayPut People First
People from a large coalition of churches, NGOs and unions are marching through central London today. Organisers, who include the TUC, Christian Aid and Oxfam, have distanced themselves from direct action planned for midweek.
WednesdayG20 Meltdown
A rag-tag grouping of anarchists, communists and squatters plan theatrical parades from four corners of London, converging on the Bank of England at midday where, they say, they will dance, make speeches and serve tea. Some elements may be pushing for something more confrontational.
People and Planet
A network of student organisers who are avoiding the Bank of England march and have instead urged members to organise high-profile protests against Royal Bank of Scotland.
Climate Camp
The best organised direct action group, with a record of successful occupations. The action of choice for many activists, who will be informed by text message seconds before a "flashcamp" is launched somewhere in the Square Mile.
Stop the War and CND
Gathering at the US embassy for a separate march against military actions in Iraq, Afghanistan and the Palestinian territories. Activists are likely to later join other actions across the city.
Anarchist bloc
A disparate grouping planning "autonomous action" across the capital. Has fallen out with G20 Meltdown organisers. Expect "spontaneous" occupations of buildings.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/mar/28/protest-g20-city-london-bank
