On meeting at agreed place, we decided to disperse and regroup at Vodafone Argyle Street - due to heavy police presence; which included mounted officers!
Our tactic worked and we were able to occupy the Vodafone store.
We sang a special rendition of Jingle Bells and a speaker from Citizens United gave an excellent speech on why we were taking this direct action. A short time later the police arrived and (after speaking to the manager) asked us to leave. I said to one officer that we couldn't leave as the door was blocked by two policemen. He said they would move to let us out. We gave another rendition of Jingle Bells then attempted to leave, only to be told that we weren't being allowed to leave - never trust a policeman! We were told the police were considering whether a crime had been commited.
It is worth mentioning that we were all in good spirits and laughed and joked with a few of the officers; and even had another wee singsong!
After some delibarating, the officer in charge announced that we would be released, one at a time, but had to be filmed and give our details. I challenged this, asking what crime we were being accused of? She told me we would be dealt with one at a time and this would be explained to us individually (divide and conquer?). I alerted the other protestors that we were not legally obliged to be filmed or give our details unless we were being accused of committing a crime. I also advised that it was perfectly legal to cover our faces and were only legally obliged to remove it if accused of committing a crime.
When it was my turn to be 'processed' like cattle, I said I wasn't refusing to give my name or remove my scarf, but asked if I was legally obliged to do so. I was told no, I wasn't, but the officer continued to ask me anyway. I stated if I wasn't legally obliged to give my details then I would not be doing so. I was then free to go.
No sooner had I left that officer, another officer was on hand to ask me for my details AGAIN! I asked if I was legally obliged to do so, and he said I WAS! So I stated that I had just been told that I wasn't legally obliged to do so, he replied that was just for being filmed! I re-terated that I was only legally obliged to give my details if I was suspected of a crime. He read out Section 13 of some act, which stated if someone was suspected of commiting a crime, or to have witnessed a crime, then they were obliged to do so. I then asked, what crime was I being suspected of? He said he didn't know! He then argued that I was obliged to give my details anyway, and I continued to argue that I wasn't, unless being accused of a crime. He then said, "okay then, let's just say Breach of the Peace" to which I replied, "Oh so we're just making it up as we go along then?". He denied this, then read out the act again, for his own benefit more than mine (I think) and picked up on the 'witness' part. So then changed his story AGAIN, saying that they were investigating whether a crime had been commited and needed my details in case I needed to be called as a witness. So I told him, as a witness, that I had not witnessed any crime. At this point he said if I didn't give my details I would be arrested. So I reluctantly gave him my details but stated that I was doing so under duress and wanted that noted.
Anyway, a successful day by all accounts, other than the police intimidation. We didn't actually close the Vodafone store (the police did though!) as we were having a peaceful protest. We didn't even block the door so customers were free to come and go, which they did. We continued to protest outside the store for another few hours and handed out over 1000 flyers and informed the public of the reasons behind our protest; gaining widespread public support.
To fellow protestors, please do not be put off by the police's tactic to intimidate, as that is all that it is. When I stated to an officer that this was just to try and intimidate us and deter us from attending future protests, he smiled! They know it, we know it, they can't stop us protesting peacefully! Keep up the good work and Merry Christmas! :)
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