On Saturday 3 January, West Yorkshire Police put on one of the most ridiculous and dangerous displays of ineptitude that anyone will ever see. They weren’t content to totally fuck up babysitting some ego-bruised incels with their iPhones in Leeds city centre that morning. No, they also decided to put on an evening performance too at HMP New Hall for the 150-odd people who turned up, to once again, demand that Heba Muraisi is moved back to HMP Bronzefield.
If you are one of the many people the corporate and mainstream media have been doing a disservice to recently, you might be confused about what I’m talking about. Let me explain.
One struggle one fight at HMP New Hall
There are 33 people locked up on remand, in some instances for over 17 months. None of them has seen a day in court. None of them has been convicted of a crime. All of them have been charged in relation to direct action against companies deemed to be aiding and abetting the ongoing genocide in Gaza.
These people are political prisoners that the government is making an example of because it can. As of November, eight of these prisoners have been coordinating what is the largest hunger strike in UK prisons since Bobby Sands and the IRA in 1981.
The hunger strikers’ demands are simple: immediate bail, the cessation of censorship of their communications, the right to a fair trial, de-proscribe Palestine Action, and finally, to shut down Elbit weapons manufacturers. The government has refused to meet them or their representatives or engage with them whatsoever.
Heba was on day 63 of her hunger strike as of Sunday 4 January. She has been treated appallingly while on remand. She is locked in a cage 23 hours a day, hundreds of miles away from her family in London at HMP New Hall. Her mother is too ill to travel to visit her regularly.
Along with the hunger strikers’ five demands, they are also now demanding that all non-association orders be removed, as well as allowing Heba a transfer back to HMP Bronzefield, immediately. Whilst four have paused their actions for now, the remaining individuals continue.
We support the hunger strike!
Over the last several weeks, there has been a sustained push of repeated protests at HMP New Hall by groups of activists hellbent on forcing the hands of the authorities. Organic gatherings, spread by through word of mouth between friends and colleagues.
Word travels quickly, and people often drive hundreds of miles to attend. Starting on 11 December, these have now ramped up in frequency, intensity, and numbers. The police are struggling to manage the situation at the prison and are on the brink of losing control.
On Saturday, two mini coaches, a bus, around 20 cars, and a balaclava-clad cyclist converged at the HMP New Hall car park just after four o’clock. Once assembled, and behind a banner, they marched up the drive to once again bang on the prison gates and demand that Heba be released to Bronzefield. This woman is so far into her strike she cannot think coherently and it hurts to lie on her side. This is urgent.
Who do you protect? Who do you serve?
This time the crowd at HMP New Hall met heavy resistance from a line of police. The wave crashed and the tussle started; an older woman was suddenly thrown on the floor behind the police.
A drummer was quite literally sent flying and landed on the ground, her head inches away from the bollard I’m standing on. It’s always nice when the feds decide to facilitate your peaceful protest… There will be some argue, no doubt, that it’s not peaceful to try and walk through a line of innocent bobbies…
Why won’t someone think of the coppers? They’re just trying to pay their mortgages.
Fuck that noise, they didn’t need to be there. And there’s a lot of ways to pay your mortgage that don’t involve taking your shitty life out on some protesters.
The thing with this is as well; it has been a running escalation. On the 27th, they brought a dog out to bark at the protesters. On the 29th, they brought two. Last night they brought literal van loads of animals.
Before long, the crowd took advantage of the stretched police lines, pushing their left flank backwards and past the gates of the prison. As the police bolstered their lines, the outcome was certainly still in the hands of the protesters.
A sinister addition to the festivities at HMP New Hall
Things started to change with the arrival of tactical support officers, many of whom wore no identifying epaulettes. According to the West Yorkshire Police Dress & Personal Appearance Policy:
All epaulettes/insignia must be worn at all times… They must not be easily removable and service numbers must be worn by all ranks.
So why the fuck were they drafted in without these basic protocols being adhered to? And then why, when this was pointed out to the inspector repeatedly, were officers allowed to continue working without the necessary identifiers? Why were they even there?
Within what seems like moments of their appearance, and without any warning, several activists and an independent journalist were hit with a face full of PAVA. One activist, speaking on condition of anonymity, told me that:
During the peaceful protest, I saw innocent protesters beaten to the ground. I was kicked and pushed myself, to the point that [an] officer… whipped out his pepper spray and viciously squirted it into the eyes of at least 2 people of colour and many others. I caught a mouthful which left my mouth burning for a short while, but I couldn’t imagine getting it in my eyes. After this, I saw the same officer kneeing and kicking an innocent protester who was simply standing still. It was a disgusting, disgraceful, shameful show of disproportionate force by West Yorkshire Police.
This is beyond outrageous. Beyond the obvious and clear abuse of power, when using PAVA, officers are required to attempt to de-escalate and attend to individuals who have been hit immediately after use; as well as assure they are monitored. I saw no attempt from them to follow these basic protocols.
One activist, in particular, required medical attention after their reaction to being sprayed. Other activists reported being struck, elbowed and assaulted in various disgraceful ways – there are even videos circulating of one activist being flung to the ground by his neck.
No Justice. No Peace.
The level of violence on display was ridiculous – but it’s not just the violence. One could be mistaken for thinking they were in Donald Trump’s America… Since when the fuck do we have lines of police officers, masked up? And then also sporting no epaulettes in numerous instances? Why are the West Yorkshire Police so happy to allow their officers to flout regulations? Repeatedly, officers were flagged to sergeants and inspectors as being unidentifiable and were nonetheless allowed to continue operating. I almost called it “working”, but everyone knows; it’s not a real fucking job…
When this was addressed with one of the PLOs, it “wasn’t the most important concern at that moment in time…” Since when is not being able to properly identify officers spraying innocent protesters in the face with a fucking chemical weapon not a concern at any point in time? Surely that’s exactly the point in time when it should be of the utmost concern to anyone – and, you’d think most of all toa fucking fed.
I’m raging. These people. Honestly…
A lack of understanding, or empathy at HMP New Hall?
Can I just get my mates to calm down a bit? Don’t I realise that some of these people just want to cause trouble?
Listen, nearly-officer 3657 laughing in your little blue vest; these aren’t my friends. I am here doing a job.
They are people I respect and admire. I am proud to be covering this movement.
And I meant it when I said I don’t give a fuck.
I couldn’t care less because lots of these people are products of the times they have lived through. All they have ever known is economic stagnation and the total destruction of the safety net and social contract. Why wouldn’t they be angry – they work full time to pay someone else’s mortgage. Paying off the shit we own on credit weekly. We rent our lives day by day penny by penny. Of course people are angry.
Fuck me; it’s like another journalist pointed out – this has been happening since Thatcher.
People are fucking furious.
You don’t get to destroy society and replace it with the individual and then be surprised when those individuals find their own community to join. And then you can’t be surprised when all those individuals get angry. And you certainly can’t stand there with wide eyes, shocked and baffled about what would possibly bring this many people out to a prison that’s complicit in the detention of a dying 20-year-old woman.
But they are surprised. They just don’t understand what’s happening…
We are the people. We won’t be silenced.
I said it in my last piece and I say it often. I said it as I left yesterday, walking past a line of these beasts. This will not stop. Not until that amazing human is on her way to Bronzefield.
These people; the police, the HMP New Hall prison staff, the governor calling the shots and making these obscene and counter-productive decisions, the neighbours wondering when the disruption will end…
It ends when the people say it ends. Your actions – they didn’t stop anything, beyond stopping a group of people from gaining the last couple of feet they couldn’t be fucking bothered reclaiming from you.
The assaults, the contrived detention of two young activists for having coats, just to toss their car. The unjustifiable use of PAVA by officers. Stalking lone activists, cameras off, as they walk to their cars. Arrest the woman who spits literal fire down a mic – show everyone else how scared you are of someone who can use their voice. All you’re doing is helping to stoke that fire that the hunger strikers have started burning.
There’s lots of fuel at hand. You can’t put this out.
Featured image and additional images via the Canary
By Barold
From Canary via This RSS Feed.