Security was tight all around the city, and protests were as common as red telephone booths. April Fools' Day was the first day of the Summit (ironic) and was supposed to be the biggest protest day. Most major organizations protested- Stop the War Coalition, nuclear disarmament organizations, etc but the largest was a group called the G20 Meltdown- an anti-capitalist group that threatened to put "bankers brains on a picnic."
The group came from four streets and congregated at the Bank of England led by effigies of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. About 5,000 people showed up for the protest, over 30 were arrested and 7 were hospitalized for minor injuries as of nightly reports. Here are my photos:
The police had to physically hold each other to fortify the line
Businesses closed and boarded up their windows
Protesters threw flour and beer cans at the police. When I first saw the flour flying, I thought it was a bomb ...
The crowd kept pushing me forward and the police were pushing the line back- suddenly I found myself at the front facing a baton. Luckily, Ryan pulled me back and out of bludgeon reach.
The anarchists started cheering at random times
A policeman calls for reinforcements too late
MSN video- You can see me at the end down at the bottom right hand corner- my hands and camera pop up in a red raincoat.MSN photo gallery with Associated Press Pictures and my pictures.
Really amazing pictures from the protest
CNN Story
We went to another protest in Trafalgar- this was the Stop the War Coalition and the nuclear disarmament organization- and it was peaceful.
I did not like his sign
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