Here are some photos and video I took at today’s very heavy handed police eviction and breakup of an anti eviction protest in Camden. A man called Mark was being evicted – he’s a man with mental health problems who I have talked to fairly regularly over the last couple of months. He did not want to leave this house. More on that soon as I’m not sure where he is at right now and what he wants to say. The police said they took him to Camden housing offices. For now – this sort of footage shows how people are trying to stop evictions and the lengths that police will go to get anti-eviction protestors out of the way and enforce.
Anti eviction protestors, including protestors from the Kilburn Unemployed Workers Group – at which Mark was a regular attendee – had linked arms across the front door so that the police and bailiffs could not get through. It became clear that the police were calling for reinforcements. There were a lot of photographers and journalists around at that point. Amazingly, the police told the press to get away from the door – that people could not film or photograph the eviction and the breakup of the protest. The hell with that, I thought. They’re obviously going to get violent and don’t want people to see it. So, I refused to go and told the police that filming police activity was in the public interest. I have to say that I’m getting very sick and tired of authorities telling me what parts of austerity can and can’t be filmed, thanks. They make it up as they go along. The police said that if I stayed, I’d risk arrest because I’d be part of the protest. I said I would stay where I was, thanks, and film the police carrying out an eviction. They did back off after warning me that any injuries I sustained as things escalated would be my problem. Bloody hell, they try it on.
Here are the protestors being removed by the TSG I think it is. I had to shoot this on my phone, although had another camera which I’ll take footage from as well. People had linked arms across the doors and the police pulled them away. This was rough. This was over the top.
The police walked Herbert, one of the people they’d arrested, a long way up the road and put him in a van by himself. They wouldn’t let us, or anyone, travel with him. Then, they moved him to another van. They said they were taking him to Holborn.
Seeing the state forces protect property (a room too small to live in) rather than consider it’s citizens HAS to be seen in ll its glory. Camden Council were aware of the potential distress being caused, and knew about the Nygel Firminger case, where he had killed himself due to being evicted, but they squirmed their way out of assuming responsibility…all documented in emails luckily.Paid Bullies picking on the sick and pensioners, is NOT scary-it’s PATHETIC! Arresting a sick person and charging a pensioner! How scummy can one get? Leafy West Hampstead of all places Ha ha. We have NOTHING to learn from these people who allow themselves not to act like rational human beings-“They were only acting under orders”. Let US keep counting the human cost…it’s a lot more inspiring, and undepressing. Remember Stephanie Bottrill- one of us!!
Clarence very well the police tried to stop people filming because they don’t want the public to see them in their true light.LEGALISED THUGS WITH BADGES
COST TO THE PROTESTERS 14 ARESSTED AND ONE ADMITTED TO A PSYCHIATRIC WARD. VERY WELL PUT CLARENCE MY GOOD FRIEND
Thank you Kate <3
This is appalling! And for anyone disabled, terrifying. I know a homeless boy, who has cerebral palsy, who lives on the streets of this city, the very capital. Now the most vulnerable of us are stripped of any status. without money, there is no hope of justice, or consideration. Is this what Britain wants to be? There are tories, i have met them and those who think we are better off right wing, but they need to think carefully what they refuse to accept.
The police have always been aggressive that is how they operate. The police institution is full of corrupt policemen that over step their mark just because they can. When i was a young man they used to say you could trust a policemen. However this is not true today. There is lots of evidence of Police maltreatment too many to mention. A friend of mine thinks he is friendly with the police but i have told him that the police don’t have friend. It is a disgrace that the police authority adopt such an aggressive stance because after all they are trained to keep the peace not disturb it. In relation to the Mentally ill man the police are a disgrace. Of course the police have taken unfair advantage of Mentally ill people before. Just like the government and of course the police are the authority of the government and therefore they are both corrupt. I have a right to make my statement under Article 10 which is a qualified right of the Human Rights Act 1998.
Stasi of the Tory government, look where they are taking us
These officers are not acting under oath nor Lawfully. See the link to know what their oath is word for word…. http://homepage.ntlworld.com/lee.riley/Notices/RewritingOathOfOffice.pdf
Our Herbert was eventually released from police custody some time around 4:30am, “let off with a caution” after all those hours of detention that were probably unlawful. Sort of like jobcentres and workfare companies bullying jobseekers into tens of job applications per week and threatening them with a sanction if they fail to comply with something unjust.
Meanwhile, last night’s Panorama programme — ‘Don’t Cap My Benefits’ — focuses on the impact of the overall benefit cap on housing in Brent. It strikes me that the council officials’ atitudes stink of divorce from the concept of human rights and life supports. Nazi-like ‘useless eaters’ attitudes toward poor people, while the description of these ‘welfare reforms’ in the voice-over narrative as ‘the most radical’ misses the inhumanity. The council officials are not only following orders: they are taking on board inhumane attitudes.
Anti-eviction actions comprise a form of peasants revolt. Meanwhile there is a covert agenda of releasing social housing as gambling chips for the global property market. The distrotions caused by emphasis on ‘average incomes’ rather than who profits from others’ poverty let Government off the hook.
Global inequality is disgusting and a global property owning class perhaps the most out of control addicts.
Swheatie of the KUWG
Hi there.
This is completely vile and solidarity to those protesters standing to resist this eviction.
There is bit of confusion here, is this bedroom tax related at all as on social media some people are claiming it is?
Regardless of whether it is or is not- complete solidarity.
Garry
Not bedroom tax as I understand it. Council said the room was too small to live in. Will update the story over the next few days
I thought the police were not allowed to aid bailiffs?
This is a National disgrace, picking on the poor and needy, yet the middle and upper classes are safe in their lives. It causes death to those unable to find a job that pays enough to survive. The fact that this and the last government have allowed hundreds of thousands of people in from the EU despite knowing that this countrty can not maintain their stresses on our National Health and Welfare systems.
People here have funded a lifetime for other people in Britain never expecting they they themselves would be written off so lightly.
Every person should get the same help. Education has reached an all time low, so this will continue for gernerations . It is Genocide just as putting people up against a wall and shooting them.
why are the police attacking public memmbers of sociaty as this terrorist like organisation i would very kindly like removing from uk sociaty they are all fraudulantly stealing the public tax money and all should be accountable as there role is only to help the public not get involved in business dealings this as got to be a breach of service as they the police are not a private organisation or business fact its that simple and the police as far as i an concerned are commiting offences them selfs and should all return their homes and moneys earned back to the public with imediat effect please
These houses are needed for the rich anybody with no money has no rights. MPs who steal by claiming money not due to them get away with it .
One law for the rich no law for the poor. The police are used as a tool for the rich.
this is appalling to evicted a mentel health person on the street is no place for the mental ill this is a disgrace of the council and also the tories did all this damage
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Thanks for the update and clarification Kate. Solidarity
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The police clearly intended to use violence against the peaceful protesters trying to stave off the eviction of a vulnerable man. Journalists were told not to record anything that was about to take place otherwise they will be regarded as part of the protest and will be arrested. You can take my word for it the police were very heavy handed to say the least. 14 people arrested I man neading an ambulance and one man admitted to a psychiatric ward as a direct result of the aggressive actions by the police WE WANT DEMOCRACY NOT HYPOCRACY
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Hi just to let everyone know on the 31st of march I was evicted illegally at the hands of camden council who fabricated a lie to cover them so they dont have to admit liability for breach of contract and in turn I was found to be intentionally homeless as camden stated I made myself intentionally homeless from my previous private rental and that apparently I was evicted from that rental for rent arrears and damages(which dont exist) and I was not evicted for that ever my accelerated eviction papers clearly state “CLAIMANT REQUIRES PROPERTY BACK FOR HERSELF” my landlady only evicted me because she exted to me after the first 12 monyths then she called camden to enquire about her second incentive payment and camden told her she wouldnt be getting it so she evicted me.I was then placed in a hostel I was there for 2 and a half years and now due to the illegal eviction of myself and my son from the hostel we are now homeless and sofa surfing with friends my story was put in the camden journal on the 1st may and I wont stop there I want the story to go nation wide as I’m completely innocent.
Um…he was taken to Camden council because I took him there. He was also offered 6 properties by Camden council because the place he lived was too small to live in but he refused unless he was given a free plasma tv. And he wasn’t disabled. So….this is all a little awkward now. Oh and the arrests were lawful. You consider us mindless yet you always are more then willing to follow the same path of understanding something whether you know the facts or not.
Does officer C expect a person to make rational choices when they have just been forcibly evicted, let alone whether they have pre-existing mental health problems or not? What sort of training has he had in order to diagnose a person’s mental state, anyway? Atos Healthcare?
I do find it interesting that Officer C has decided the person in question doesn’t have mental health issues. How very convenient. Also seems to have missed the fact that some people with mental health problems find the idea of change and moving etc very difficult which is yet another reason they shouldn’t be bombarded by councils and then evicted. But what do I know I guess…
Hi Kate I’m confused after reading officer c comments I was told that Mark was not taken to the housing office and had been left to sofa surf at friends till Lee found him private rented acc,however the eviction should not have taken place as supposedly Mark was under “Safeguarding” therefore Camden should have mearly transferred him from the property he was in into another he did and does have Mental Health issues which Officer C says he doesn’t see yet he has admitted it through stating the Issue with the Plasma Tv without even realising it.If what Officer C is saying is true of course.But I do believe the Police had been Miss-informed by Camden Council about the protest and its Scale hence the massive turn out including Riot Squad which I think is pathetic for less than 20 protestors .I have spoken to the community around me and we all would like Camden Council to be made accountable for having wasted police time and falsifying the true numbers involved in the protest as far as I know wasting police time and resources is still a crime in Britain is it not? also I would like to remind everyone that A Section Ten Only Applies To A Squat And Not A Residential Home People ought to learn more Law THE CHARGES GIVEN WILL NEVER STICK Ha Ha Ha Ha John T never should have been arrested I dont believe his arrest was even Lawful he should have been taken to hospital I met with John yesterday at the meeting where he announced that for at least a week after being knocked unconscious he suffered drowsyness and lethargy which can be significant markers to a brain injury he should have been hospitalised and a CT scan carried out me thinks he is entitled to mass compo.
And just to add statute of Limitations states that a case can be brought within seven years of the incident I have advised john yesterday to speak to Osbournes Solicitors.And just to let everyone know John is still marked on his arm weeks later.We urge the Police not to respond to evictions as they are not being paid by the council they are not the councils private army we want this in order to stop the council from having constant agendas of evictions day after day after day because otherwise London will become flooded once again with homeless people like back in the 80s and this will harm Londons Economy as no one wants to spend time and money in a place where they are constantly confronted with the homeless out on the street its just to Grim for most to bear.
I need to comment here because I was in the police car with Mark.The senior policeman at the scene assured me personally that Mark would be taken to Camden Housing Office and that the Police would not leave him till he was either rehoused or ‘in a safe place’. I insisted on accompanying Mark, and did so. Mark was left by the police car at the front entrance to the Kings Cross Library. When I asked if the police were coming in, as promised, they told me they knew nothing of this or of the case and were only there to act as a taxi service.
Does leaving someone at the door of the library count as ‘taking him to the housing office’? In the event we were unable to enter the housing office at all and Mark was reduced to trying to explain details of his eviction and his precarious metal condition over a very pubic internal phone on the floor of the public library.
I am amazed that ‘Oficer C’ claims to be the person who ‘took Mark to Camden Council’. There were 2 policeman in the car, and both told me they knew nothing at all about the case and therefore there was no point in them coming in to support, and that they had no orders to do so. Yet ‘Officer C’ now claims all sorts of knowledge about the case, as well as the ability to make an on the spot diagnosis of Mark’s mental health condition.
As the police officers were not present for any of this I do wonder where they got this misinformation about a plasma TV. I WAS there, it was never mentioned; Mark has his own TV anyway. Mark has indeed been offered properties by Camden but his mental health issues render him terrified of change and unable to make decisions.
The landlord did not need to evict Mark, he has had several empty flats in the same property since being told by Camden Environmental Health that the property was overcrowded. It was purely the landlord’s decision to move new tenants into these properties and to evict the vulnerable person with fragile mental health.
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