Sunday, October 07, 2018
Badger cull protesters confronted by armed police
Those of us who lived through the abortive Welsh badger cull, nearly eight years ago now, will not be surprised at the UK Government's tactics in support of their own slaughter on the other side of Offa's Dyke.
It is worth noting, in the light of the repositioning of Plaid Cymru as a left wing movement for independence, that back in 2010 a Plaid Cymru Minister presided over Government contractors wearing balaclavas and sunglasses so as to hide their identities, forcing their way onto people's land so as to carry out legally-sanctioned surveys. And when landowners challenged them and sought to verify their identity they were arrested.
Plains clothes police monitored protest meetings and as one Pembrokeshire farmer reported in the Western Mail, police were also stopping motorists and searching them under anti-terrorist legislation.
The situation in England is apparently becoming just as bad, with the full apparatus of the state being deployed behind those carrying out the rather haphazard, cruel and ineffective slaughter of badgers.
The Mirror reports that badger cull protesters were confronted by armed police as they tried to film marksmen getting ready to kill the creatures.
These police officers had allegedly been told that the protesters were armed. In fact the only people who were carrying firearms prior to the arrival of the police were the government's contractors. One of the protesters recounts what happened:
One of the protesters, 22-year-old Chris Gillett, told how campaigners became involved in the stand-off after confronting marksmen looking for badgers to shoot.
He said: “On spotting shooters with our thermal scope we walked towards them with our torches on.
“When we got them in sight there were two shooters in full camouflage who had high-powered rifles around their backs.
“We noticed one on the phone who said, ‘They’re here now and shining torches in my face. Can you get a patrol to us?’
“At this point we spotted three vehicles racing up the lane towards us.
“We stood still while one officer spoke to the shooters for a brief moment before telling them to stand to the side.
“Officers then turned and pointed their loaded rifles at the three saboteurs.
“We were instructed to place anything we had in our hands on the floor - two torches and a mobile phone - and to put our hands on our heads.
“One by one they instructed us to walk backwards towards the officers with our hands still on our heads.”
The trio say they were held under Section 1 of the Firearms Act before being let go.
“The only people with weapons in the area were the shooters. All three saboteurs were searched and nothing was found,” he added.
Any government carrying out such a policy, against the wishes of the majority of the people it supposedly represents, whilst using armed police to enforce its will, is not acting democratically. For Wales in 2010, now read Cheshire, England.
It is worth noting, in the light of the repositioning of Plaid Cymru as a left wing movement for independence, that back in 2010 a Plaid Cymru Minister presided over Government contractors wearing balaclavas and sunglasses so as to hide their identities, forcing their way onto people's land so as to carry out legally-sanctioned surveys. And when landowners challenged them and sought to verify their identity they were arrested.
Plains clothes police monitored protest meetings and as one Pembrokeshire farmer reported in the Western Mail, police were also stopping motorists and searching them under anti-terrorist legislation.
The situation in England is apparently becoming just as bad, with the full apparatus of the state being deployed behind those carrying out the rather haphazard, cruel and ineffective slaughter of badgers.
The Mirror reports that badger cull protesters were confronted by armed police as they tried to film marksmen getting ready to kill the creatures.
These police officers had allegedly been told that the protesters were armed. In fact the only people who were carrying firearms prior to the arrival of the police were the government's contractors. One of the protesters recounts what happened:
One of the protesters, 22-year-old Chris Gillett, told how campaigners became involved in the stand-off after confronting marksmen looking for badgers to shoot.
He said: “On spotting shooters with our thermal scope we walked towards them with our torches on.
“When we got them in sight there were two shooters in full camouflage who had high-powered rifles around their backs.
“We noticed one on the phone who said, ‘They’re here now and shining torches in my face. Can you get a patrol to us?’
“At this point we spotted three vehicles racing up the lane towards us.
“We stood still while one officer spoke to the shooters for a brief moment before telling them to stand to the side.
“Officers then turned and pointed their loaded rifles at the three saboteurs.
“We were instructed to place anything we had in our hands on the floor - two torches and a mobile phone - and to put our hands on our heads.
“One by one they instructed us to walk backwards towards the officers with our hands still on our heads.”
The trio say they were held under Section 1 of the Firearms Act before being let go.
“The only people with weapons in the area were the shooters. All three saboteurs were searched and nothing was found,” he added.
Any government carrying out such a policy, against the wishes of the majority of the people it supposedly represents, whilst using armed police to enforce its will, is not acting democratically. For Wales in 2010, now read Cheshire, England.
Comments:
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There are illegally owned guns in the UK, but not many. Illegally owned handguns recently seized by the UK police comprise trophy weapons from the Balkan conflicts and modified weapons. There are no recent cases when a "tommy gun" or semi-automatic rifle has been used on mainland Britain. If you buy an illegal gun, where do you get the ammunition? Any Spaniel puppy can be trained to find nitrate based contraband ammunition.
Armed response units, camouflaged in black against the dull beige and grey of concrete Britain, are our answer to a non-existent problem. Shout, shout louder and run around, duck here and there -- that is the supposed way to make an armed person respond to a hostage or intrusion situation. We've forgotten about talking.
The FBI, experts in gun crime, advise UK police who don't shoot many people and don't get shot at very often. Maybe somebody got it wrong about who should be advising whom.
Rifles and shotguns, the armaments of countryside? They are used in domestic crime, sadly. They are stolen for professional crime. Life is not like TV programmes, thankfully.
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Armed response units, camouflaged in black against the dull beige and grey of concrete Britain, are our answer to a non-existent problem. Shout, shout louder and run around, duck here and there -- that is the supposed way to make an armed person respond to a hostage or intrusion situation. We've forgotten about talking.
The FBI, experts in gun crime, advise UK police who don't shoot many people and don't get shot at very often. Maybe somebody got it wrong about who should be advising whom.
Rifles and shotguns, the armaments of countryside? They are used in domestic crime, sadly. They are stolen for professional crime. Life is not like TV programmes, thankfully.
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