TOO CRUEL FOR SCHOOL

AS NOTTINGHAM COPS GO OVER THE TOP IN CLIMATE CLASSROOM

In the very early hours of Easter Monday114 environmental activists were arrested in Nottingham on suspicion of conspiring to shut down the Ratcliffe-on-Soar coal fired power station for a prolonged period.

As was widely reported in the mainstream media, over 200 police raided a school in Sneiton Dale, Nottingham where the protesters were staying, arresting everybody inside. Cops apparently had some ‘intelligence’ about the massive protest and had cancelled officers’ leave in planning the raid. They say they found ‘specialist’ equipment in the school that could have been used to disrupt the power station, including ‘equipment that could be used to tie people to machinery’ (the humble bicycle D-lock?)

All those arrested were taken to various police stations in the area and released on bail in the evening without being charged. All police stations in the area were at maximum capacity, and locals were outraged that the operation involved so many officers, who they said were normally so hard to find when you needed one!

Could it be that the police wanted to avoid a repeat of the court case when Greenpeace activists were arrested at Kingsnorth Power Station in 2007 (run by E.ON, who also run Ratcliffe) – and successfully argued during a trial that they were acting lawfully to prevent damage caused by climate chaos (See SchNEWS 646). This way the Police nipped the protest in the bud, and can avoid any further legal scrutiny for E.ON by just dropping the charges after.

During another action in 2007, Ratcliffe was invaded by local climate activists locking onto the conveyor belts that take coal up to be burned (See SchNEWS 583). This power station emits more carbon dioxide than several developing countries put together, and is one of the worst sources of carbon emissions in the UK.

Police caused massive damage throughout the school, despite the activists only using one room in an annexe. They decided to search the entire building and smash all doors down – despite someone from the school with keys turning up, who was told to go away. The school is now closed till further notice – nice job by the boys in blue trashing kids education.

After the arrests, three vanloads of coppers in full gear arrived at the Sumac Centre, one of the addresses of the arrestees, which they presented a search warrant for. A room upstairs was searched, and some papers and a computer taken. Other addresses saw police cruising the street, and they continued to monitor the Sumac Centre.

While some are inclined to speculate wildly about how the police found out about the alleged plan for the action, SchNEWS suggests that playing the blame game is the perfect way to help the cops destroy a movement, while solidarity and some sensible thinking will go a long way to successful actions.

* See also www.indymedia.org.uk/en/regions/nottinghamshire