A "Stop the Cuts" (Yes we Carnival!) themed-protest occurred last Wednesday, March 3 and the University of Sussex. This was in solidarity with the UCU, lecturers and other staff and students across the country who are opposed to the cuts, as part of a national day on student action. Westminster uni, UEA, UCL and Kings College London, to name a few, all saw some kind of protesting action. And then 50 (or is it 80?) Sussex students stormed an administrative building and occupied it for a few hours.
What a delicate subject this is. Having missed the carnival and actual storming of Sussex House at around 12, and having to rush back and forth to the Badger Office, was a mistake. I would have liked to see the entire thing - because I have been told "what actually happened" by so many different people with conflicting versions of events that I doubt an unbiased account is possible (yes, everything is biased to some extent, but there are few people I have spoken to, or whose comments I've read, who seem to be able to see both sides of the story). They are all interpretations of events.
The facts I have gathered are these: there was a carnival themed protest, which was fine. Then students broke into Sussex House and occupied it. Most of the staff left, some remained. Students and police watched from outside, there was chanting, there was music. The atmosphere was electric - and although the protest had an underlying furious message for the VC ("There's only one redundancy we want to see...") the atmosphere seemed generally positive. I was there at that point, and although police had secured a perimeter around the building, with dogs, I even had a chat with a policeman. It was overally exciting to watch and it felt good to soak up the atmosphere. It was infectious. I can see why people get a thrill out of protesting - although I genuinely hope none of these protesters are doing it purely for the thrill, under the guise of being a political activist. I just felt the irresistable urge to fill in the gaps.
A couple people got taken out of the building and searched for some reason. And then I am sorry to say that I left for a bit, and that's when things turned sour. A second wave of students decided to storm the building.
Foolish, because as far as I know, this caused the police to arrest two people (who apparently assulted a security guard and an officer - although I am not able to judge as I was not there, and I haven't yet seen a video convincing me one way or another), and, from what I've read, "threaten students with pepper spray and dogs".
Call me skeptical, but I think that if a wave of angry students rushes at a police line, the police are going to react. They're not exactly going to let more students get through a secure perimeter (especially students who were fine with standing outside, singing and chanting, for hours beforehand). There was no need for this. As far as I know, the occupation was going fine, the protest was going fine, why muck it up? Bad idea.
When I asked why students actually did this, I didn't really get a plausible response. Somebody said the police "looked like they were about to go in to the building". Somebody else just said that the level of violence was set by the police when riot police and four more dogs turned up (so sink down to their level by attempting to get past riot police and dogs by force in attempt to storm the already occupied building? What?!). I wish I was there to see the whole thing to judge for myself what actually happened.
From what I have gathered, however, I do not think this second surge was justified. If riot police turn up, and you think its a bad thing, it doesn't really seem like the best idea to try to push against them, because they will stop you.
I am not advocating the actions of the police if they were unneccessarily brutal. Police brutality is not a good thing, and yes, previous occupations happened peacefully (the Bramber House one a couple weeks ago was fine). But if police turn up, don't try to aggravate things.
I do not think that protest was 'peaceful' and that the police turned up and screwed everything up, as some people are claiming. 50 + students
stormed a private building and occupied it. The protest was 'non-violent', not peaceful, until violence actually happened.
Yes, the number of police and riot police was overkill. Police presence was necessary though, because it is actually illegal to storm a private building, and it is a large bunch of angry students. And so saying 'Police Off Our Campus' (one of the points in the Demonstration Against Police Violence Facebook groups/events) because of this is, I find, very short sighted and a knee-jerk reaction. We need police on campus I'm afraid, because things go wrong (lap tops, bikes etc. being stolen, rape on campus, drugs and whatever else going on). In addition to this, I'm not entirely sure police can be banned from campus. As was illustrated to me, this is not 'The Republic of Sussex', this is a university (if this can be done, somebody enlighten me as to how). I think some people are getting carried away.
If the police turn up at a protest, figure out how to work with it, rather than allowing both the police and the students ruining a generally exciting and positive protest.
The arrests and student outrage of the students against police brutality have, I think, tainted the protest. Make formal complaints if you feel the police have done you wrong, don't get them off campus. An 'us vs them' mentality is entirely unproductive.
I am not attempting to bash anyone. I think protest is important, of course it's important to have a voice and to fight for what you believe in, and for a great number of people it's 'part of the uni experience' (and I am covering myself here because so many comments on Facebook similar to what is written above has been met with immediate insult and anger - which, incidentally, makes things seem unattractive, if there is anger in the place of rational discussion). I have no problem with the occupation - if that was the way to get management to listen, so be it, and well done for organising it. Apparently the protest inspired lecturers to have a close to 80% turnout vote for strike action, and that is something positive.
But do do things properly. Acccept the fact that the storming of a private building is going to be met with police force, and if riot police turn up, dont try to break the line unless you take responsibility for the fact that there most probably will be violence and arrests. These guys are trained to deal with this kind of thing - illustrated by the fact that they had their own evidence camera on the scene. They knew that they would be dealing with a bunch of pissed off University of Sussex students (notorious for its radicalism), and I'm sure they did not want to do anything too rash because the students would react exactly the way they are now.
What irks me the most is that all I have seen of the arrests is a grainy video of a copper and a student tumbling down a slope, the student being slammed to the floor and then being arrested. People have said things like 'my friend saw it and he wasn't doing anything'.
And I am sorry to say that it has come to the point where I take everybody's account of events with a pinch of salt, because I think that the experience will be tainted or embellished by the person's views - whether anti or pro police, management, etc etc. These views, I think, are a filter through which a recollection of a past event is streamed. Humans can rationalise anything to fit to their views - that is something I have learned whilst being at university. I doubt there is a completely unbiased view out there.
In addition to this, I am tired of the incessant Facebook bickering, about who's right and who's wrong, and for this, that and the other reason. People believe strongly in things, particularly at university, and I strongly doubt that any argument will sway a person's beliefs.
I can't even clearly see the point of this post, to be honest. I've ended up typing a lot more than I previously intended, and have left plenty of loose ends. It is not meant for anybody in particular, it is not necessarily meant to be read, and I hope it is not met with anger and insult. It is a physical account of what's going on in my mind, and
my interpretation of events (emphasis on the interpretation).
It has given me a headache.
Images: www.thebadgeronline.co.uk
