Anti ID Card Protesters Arrested

Ward | 03.12.2008 08:38 | Sheffield

POLICE made a dozen arrests after a group of anarchists staged a protest at the Home Office buildings in Sheffield.

Members of the Anarchists’ Federation arrived at Vulcan House in Millsands on the Riverside in Sheffield city centre at around 8.30am to mount a protest against the Government’s ID card scheme.

After being refused entry by security staff many of the protesters chained themselves to the building forcing hundreds of staff to enter via the emergency exits.

The protesters were warned by police that they would be arrested if they did not move on.

By 11.30am officers had cleared the area after making 12 arrests for alleged aggravated trespass.

Those arrested were taken into custody and spent the rest of the day being questioned.

Student Will Wright who acts as a spokesperson for the Anarchists Federation said: “The demonstration was against the national rolling out of ID cards for non-EU nationals as well as against ID cards in general.

“The police treated us very fairly and warned us that anyone who failed to move on would be arrested.”

http://rinf.com/alt-news/contributions/anti-id-card-protesters-arrested/4967/

Ward

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Additions

Correction:

03.12.2008 10:24

*Activists from around Yorkshire were involved in this.

*Noone was refused entry as noone was trying to enter the building anyway. (it was shut at that time so of course noone would be allowed in)

*It wasn't the emergency exits, it was the public entrance and the two staff entrances at the front of the building (two D-locked to the public entrance, three to the barriers either side of one of the staff entrances with both the staff entrances locked around the handles)

*11 people were arrested, not 12.

*By 8pm everyone had been released with a caution.

*Despite the fact you wrote down the 'spokesperson's' name, you actually got it wrong anyway.

Defy ID

sorry...

03.12.2008 10:38

"It wasn't the emergency exits,* it was the public entrance and the two staff entrances at the front of the building (two D-locked to the public entrance, three to the barriers either side of one of the staff entrances with both the staff entrances locked around the handles)"

* the staff were able to get in through one of the many other staff entrances to the building, a huge building like that has more than one staff entrance.

Members of the public couldn't get in as the doors blocked were the ones with all the security checks and obviously the Home Office couldn't have members of the public running about inside with searching through all their things.

Defy ID

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