- What really happened at Capitol Hill. Ever been on a demo? Archived Message
Posted by Der
on January 27, 2021, 10:05 am
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I wrote this further down the board but my ego demands a bigger audience so here it is again. ......... Look, demos have a particular focus of attention. Usually some building which represents something unacceptable to those outside protesting. The often unstated aim of the demonstrators is to get in just to disrupt the business that goes on in there and to get some media coverage. Usually there is security and/or barricades to stop you getting in. People don't expect to get in. They expect to do a bit of shouting, eat their sandwiches and go home. If people get in most people are aware that if they do damage they get done for "criminal damage" so most people would just make a nuisance of themselves running around the place shouting "no more war" or some such (and an hour later war stops forever and ever) or go into some offices and maybe lock the door behind them, if they get the chance. Though they'll be charged with criminal damage for the damage the cops do when they break down the door. Most people, on getting into the building, simply lie down on the floor and wait until they are carried out or if security don't know what to do, as is often the case, they just lie there until it's time to go home for dinner or go to bed or some shit. The point is if you are at the front of the demo you may get an opportunity to get into the building. You may have no expectation or intention of going in but suddenly there's an opportunity of a split second and you take it or you don't. I remember once at an environment demo in Parliament Square, outside Parliament, a bunch of us were standing, shouting outside the part of the building where cars and such go into the House of Commons after being vetted by the cops, when suddenly as a car was going in there appeared a gap on one side of the car, the cops were distracted, so I rushed in through the gap. The next thing there was mayhem. Cops everywhere, shouting. I just ran like a bat out of hell trying to avoid being caught. I had no plan. Certainly no intention of doing damage. No expectation of getting in anywhere. I didn't really know where I was. If I was on my own I would probably have been lost. Needing directions. When it looked like I was going to be grabbed I tried to climb a tree (no good environmentalist climbs trees!) but failed so just lay on the ground until they picked me up by the arms and legs and carried me into some dungeon type place where I was brutally tortured for hours. Well, actually, they just asked me a load of really boring questions which I refused to answer. (Note: Never, never, ever, give them your date of birth.) Act confident and pretend you know what you're doing and you'll be fine. The fact that I had an Irish accent (no idea where I got it) slowed things down a bit as they maybe remembered Guy Fawkes. Eventually they put me in a cell where I sat for hours and hours reading a Chomsky book. After a long time they let me out and I walked home. Never heard another word about it. The point I'm making is the guys at the front of a demo usually have no plan other than to shout. They expect security to keep them out. If they get in they don't know what to do. Take selfies, for feck sake. Anyway, that's my take on demos and something like that is what I think happened on Capitol Hill. People who haven't been on many demos think it was an insurrection. A fecking coup d'etat! |