One of those arrested at Wormwood Scrubs was Canary videographer Ibrahim Abul-Essad - who was documenting the protest for Umer Khalid
Cops were heard saying ‘arrest now, find evidence later’.
Essad, who is a videographer for the Canary, was arrested despite not being part of the protest and standing on the other side of the road at the time.
There was filming by shadowy figures who seemed to belong to the prison service, and after around 30 minutes police vans started arriving and police started lining up in a show of force.
The demonstrators then left as a group, marching in a column through the main gate, where they were suddenly confronted by a line of police barring their way, and they were told that nobody could leave.
Police statement:
“The group […] refused to leave the grounds when ordered to do so.”
Some background from The Independent :
“Today is Friday. By Monday, if the UK government continues to stall, we can expect this young man to be well in the process of dying if not dead.”
Khalid’s demands include immediate bail, the reopening of the Gaza inquiry, as well as the “release of surveillance footage from RAF spy flights the night of the killing of British aid workers, and full disclosure of damage figures from the Brize Norton action”, which he called on the government to engage with before escalating to a thirst strike.
At some point people are going to have to start fighting back against fascism instead of engaging in protest and elections.
Elections alone are a total joke. Yes, they are important. But that’s an action someone does once a year or so. There is so much more that can be done.
Other strategy talk can get very loaded and philosophical and I won’t pretend to know the answers. But I think a vital part will always remain to activate people. Critical mass is very powerful and all these people doing the bidding of a few are also just humans who can be pressured and potentially have their perspective changed.
We need to think now. Protest is illegal. Courts are corrupted against us. Even “our” politicians would have us gassed for opposing israel if they could choose anyone to gas.
Time to find quiet secret ways to protest.
HM Prison Wormwood Scrubs (nicknamed “The Scrubs”) is a Category B men’s local prison, located in the White City area of the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham in West London, England.
