Home | Friday 7th March 2008 | Issue 623

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TAA'rd with Same Brush

Squatters fought off police as they used ‘military siege tactics’ to surround a squatted fund-raising gig in Brighton last weekend. The benefit was for the forthcoming Brighton Temporary Autonomous Art (TAA) space. The old Sainsbury’s on London Rd (empty for over a year) was squatted as avenue for live bands and a sound-system.

Police arrived in numbers just after midnight. One party-goer told us, “There were a 150 people inside the building but another 200 were kept outside by police lines, which was stupid as they managed to create a public order situation. They deployed vans, dog units and special ops units, and taped the area off, working side by side with private security.

“The Chief Super in charge actually admitted that we were in legal occupation - but that didn’t stop them trying to shut the party down. We opened another entrance to allow people in and the police attacked with pepper spray and dogs. One 16-year-old girl was badly mauled by a police dog and had to go to hospital with nasty puncture wounds.”

Police then tried to storm the original entrance but were held off by hand-to-hand fighting – and they lost some of their equipment to the protesters. They didn’t manage to gain entry and so Police served a Section 63 of the CJA 1994. Eventually people had living vehicles and equipment seized, and five arrests were made.

Brighton TAA: “We want the people of Brighton to come together to create a cultural, interactive autonomous space where people are free to be, free to create and free to express themselves.”

2-5th April 2008 – venue TBA (of course) http://www.subterraneanartbrighton.org

* Call For Decentralized Days of Action for Squats and Autonomous Spaces - On the weekend of April 11th-12th there will be two days of demonstration, direct action, public information, street-party, squatting… in defence of free spaces and for an anti-capitalist popular culture. Linking and inspiring people and autonomous spaces, Europe wide. For updates and events see http://april2008.squat.net

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