THE SKINHEADSuniform. The big boots are the boots of the building labourer, and are often nothing more pairs of jeans with, believe it or not, braces - a masterpiece of unhipness. Finally, they wear After weeks of discontent in the Piccadilly scene because of police persecutior of English and foreign students and beats, th SCCHIC suddenly erupted after the brutal methods used by the police on Sunday evening, August 3. The confrontation began after general harassment by the police, like kicking and pushing people and ordering them to get up from the steps and square around Eros. Violence broke out when one French student lost his temper and shouted at the policeman who was pushing him. Immediately three policemen were on him and when he struggled they knocked his head against the iron railings and dragged him away This aroused a spontaneous rising by the people around Eros which developed into a militant demonstration. The demonstrators followed the police into the street adjoining the square and massed blocking the traffic while several fights broke out. The police who did not expect this militant action looked quite disturbed amidst the singing of the Internationale' by demonstrators in the streets, with chants of Ho Chi Minh and occasional shouts of fuck the 'fuzz' while a large crowd of spectators and an increasing traffic jam developed. After police reinforcements restored "order" some of our militant comrades organised a demonstration against police brutality and unjust arrests outside that notorious police station West End Central, by route of Regent Street; there more battles raged and later these events were reported to the BBC by the demonstrators.
In both demonstrations, the demonstrators were brutally beaten, 16 unjust arrests were made and the latter were badly treated by the police as some of the actual incidents and facts will show Policeman A608 went around pulling people from the crowd and arresting them without reason. Police A339 continuously hit a demonstrator with his truncheon. Policeman A169 and A317 were trying to get a demonstrator into their car; they were unable to do this so they beat up the demonstrator and dragged him in. One policeman ordered middle aged citizen-spectator to move from the pavement, the latter refused so two policemen dragged him away. In the course of this one of the policemen knocked down a 70-80 year old lady from the pavement into the road, both treated this as a joke as both were laughing. Claude Tissot, a French student, was arrested by a policeman for no reason whatsoever. He was taken to West End Central and there insulted and brainwashed by the police. When he asked for a cup of water it was brought to him and thrown all over him by a policeman. Early next morning he was slapped awake and forced into another cell by three policemen; he was then held against the wall and brutally beaten up That day Claude Tissot was fined £10 for assaulting a policeman by the magistrate. (the completely irony of the law?)
On the whole the demonstrations we glorious victories for the students and beats c Piccadilly and shameful defeats for the police The main results of the demonstrations are that the police will not be so ready to bust more people in Piccadilly after the trouble that the demonstrators caused them. The British and foreign people actually saw the brutality and injustice of the British police in action, a feeling of militant solidarity has been brought into the Piccadilly scene by the acting together of the people, and finally the realization of the need of further organization to repel future attacks by the police. One thing is certain though, the students and beats of Piccadilly will fight to the last in resisting the injustice and the brutal methods of a police state.