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> I might just be being cynical but this sounds like an intelligence led operation to remove people who were at a high risk of commiting public disorder. You a

> I might just be being cynical but this sounds like an intelligence led operation to remove people who were at a high risk of commiting public disorder. You are being cynical. You cannot be preemptively arrested for having a "high risk of committing public disorder", which is what happened. Many people, who actually had no plans to demonstrate or do anything other than spend the day drinking and trying not to watch the ceremony, were subjected to dawn raids for no reason other than that they are on police watchlists (along with thousands and thousands of other peaceful protestors) It's so incredibly easy to get on a police watchlist now - you merely have to turn up to a protest to get yourself on file. Pensioners have had files for merely walking along a protest route and then going home.

cones688 13y ago
In same way you can be arrested for "going equipped" or banned from near sports stadiums for football hooliganism, it is rarely held up in court but a tool for the police to preempt people who are positioned to commit a crime. There must be reasonable grounds otherwise one has a case for false imprisonment, I am guessing The Met took all reasonable steps to make sure they were targeting the right people using precious resources on what was one of the biggest police operations of the decade.
- casiotone 13y ago
  Oh, they targeted the 'right people' alright. But this was not an operation to 'save the day' from the mean protestors. It was an intimidation campaign. The people who were targeted had committed no crime, had not planned to commit any crime, they were targeted because they were known left-wing activists. This is now cause in itself for the Met to bring you up. Your rose-tinted glasses view of the Met is naive - they are corrupt servants of the ruling class. These operations have one purpose - to shut people up, to present an image of Britain as a united nationalist utopia. We all love the Queen! Look! Nobody even protested!

cones688 13y ago

In same way you can be arrested for "going equipped" or banned from near sports stadiums for football hooliganism, it is rarely held up in court but a tool for the police to preempt people who are positioned to commit a crime. There must be reasonable grounds otherwise one has a case for false imprisonment, I am guessing The Met took all reasonable steps to make sure they were targeting the right people using precious resources on what was one of the biggest police operations of the decade.

casiotone 13y ago
Oh, they targeted the 'right people' alright. But this was not an operation to 'save the day' from the mean protestors. It was an intimidation campaign. The people who were targeted had committed no crime, had not planned to commit any crime, they were targeted because they were known left-wing activists. This is now cause in itself for the Met to bring you up. Your rose-tinted glasses view of the Met is naive - they are corrupt servants of the ruling class. These operations have one purpose - to shut people up, to present an image of Britain as a united nationalist utopia. We all love the Queen! Look! Nobody even protested!