G20 protests

The other day, just before starting my current contract, I decided to go into London City to check out the G20 protests.

It wasn't hard to find where to go - follow the excessive number of police and the closer you get the more police there are.

I shuffled and elbowed my way to the front of the crowd and stood in front of a row a police who were 'holding us back'. They were in good spirits, no growling or scowling from this lot. My purpose for going was in fact to get the camera out on an excursion. It's been severely underworked these days.

So I played around and snapped this and that. Nothing was happening and I wondered how long I should stand there. No sooner having thought this, the crowd opposite started to get a bit agitated and began to push the line of police until they eventually broke through and started heaading our way.

At this point, the police holding us back all turned into different creatures and became very aggressive shouting 'GET BACK!' whilst pushing us. I am guessing the thought of 1000 or more people mobbing them from behind wasn't an attractive option. I was shocked at how quickly they turned from calm and quiet to very angry and loud.

So in short the crowd pushed through all police lines and the police were left looking a bit surprised. They then regrouped and formed another plan which was to hold the crowd at another point and bring in the riot squad. These police were not so friendly.

After a while I got bored at this location so headed off to Trafalgar Square where a more peaceful protest was happening. This one was specifically focussed on Palestine (whereas the 'main' one was for all agendas).

This was a whole different scenario, singing, invited speakers, etc. Peaceful and pleasant and yet still getting their point across.

Interesting day in all.