RMIT Occupation Photos : Melbourne Indymedia

disarming a security guard of his walkie talkie to as to prevent him calling more police.

Occupation finished as of 11pm.
No arrests or injuries.
Everyone's off to the pub :)

ABC and SBS provided a fairly balanced acccount of the affair, so well done to them!!

Well done to all who participated. It really proved that state and corporate power can not destroy the good will of the people that stuck together yesterday to make it happen.

Tactics, fast maneouvering & people power made yesterday a complete success.

...what about the photos of the cops without their name tags?

a pic (low res)
more on soon

Great actions. I could not believe that they used capsicum spray on such a reasonable crowd. Totaly outrageous and dangerous. Hope there is some justice for those victims of such a vicious assault.

Solidarity and keep up the fight!

(All is quiet down here as lucky TAS students have plenty of places and no rise in fees this year).

By the way its probably not necessary to block out faces as pics from net cant be used in evidence. To be used they need the person who took the photo to testify about when and where it was taken etc (Of course if yr concerned about identification they can still use em to find out who to look for evidence on).

Greetings to you all protesters.

I don`t want to take you down on your mood
but a reminder that Ironfisted Imperialism can not be defeated by words only. The protest looks good. Solidarity to you.

By the way, take a look at those caps the police
is wearing. And notice that black and white pattern,
a row of black and white squares. That is exactly the
same appearing in England and elsewhere too.
It`s a sign of masonry. This is a distinguishable
pattern that is repeated over and over again
if you pay attention to it.
Sometimes it appears in advertising, it appears on
surfaces in buildings, like a chessboard.

There is a listed company in Finland
named Elisa plc. Just have a look at their
advertising spot/slideshow on their website.
The company is controlled by freemasonry.
http://www.elisa.fi/

Also check out this important website:
http://www.davidicke.com/
And go to the left column and click on
symbolism...take a close look at that!

The biggest battles still ahead...coming at you
The enemy is within.

http://www.davidicke.net/symbolism/jclicker/images/George-Washington-Masonic-Apron.jpg

http://www.davidicke.net/symbolism/jclicker/images/MI-5.jpg

http://www.davidicke.net/symbolism/jclicker/images/Rennes-le-Chateau.jpg

http://www.davidicke.net/symbolism/jclicker/images/Double-Square.jpg

Hi UTAS Student. I can understand your disbelief that the police used capsicum spray on such a reasonable crowd.

Fortunately, you are grossly ill informed. Just for something different.

The police in Melbourne did no such thing. It was in Sydney where the protests were far more violent.

No, our guys down here aren't being accused of gassing people. Or riding over them with horses. Or baton charging them. Nup.

Th big issue down here is that some of them apparently took off their name tags.

Diddems.

re the last photo above.

don't you just hate it when people do things to prevent other people from identifying them?

afterall, isn't that what the police are accused of doing???

Craig,

The protests in Sydney were not "far more violent" at all. We were banging on a VC's door, much as the photos from melbourne reveal you guys were doing. When the door opened we attempted to push through a fairly thin line of police. When they began losing this struggle they started to indiscriminantly spray everyone close to the front. I copped it in the eyes from 20cm distance. Unprecedented use of spray on campus protests. If they hadn't used it we would have got in.

"If they hadn't used it we would have got in."

I think that was the whole idea of the police presence, wasn't it cap sprayed? To stop people breaking into the vice chancellor's office?

They achieved their aim.

You achieved your aim of highlighting this issue through public protest.

Everyone achieved what they wanted to do.

What's the problem here?

I was expressing solidarity with ALL the protesters. I know that they werent capsicum sprayed in Melbourne. I watched the whole thing on the news and my impression was that the police in Sydney were assholes. That was also the impression of everyone else here who saw it on the news (not just supporters like me).

As I said before. You cant use photos off the internet as evidence. I know this from experience. I wasnt saying that you should all identify yourself to the police. Given that quite a number of people can be identified from those pictures anyway - it might be usefull for you to know.

What the fuck is the big deal with your (or at least your comrades in Sydney) hats? Why do you always get so agro when people touch them? It seems to bother you even more than when actual violence is directed at you. I've been wondering about this for a long time.

Re the question regarding police 'touchiness' with people touching hats.

I guess it's not so much the actual hat istself (worth about $20 and readily replaceable) but rather the actions corollary to the touching. Eg pushing, punching, spitting etc and the fact that if your hat is touched, it means that someone (in this case, someone who means you no good at all) is touching your head.

I suppose a student with a nice tea cosie on the dreadlocks would get understandably pretty pissed off if a cop were to rip it off their head and keep it as a trophy.

I guess the message is a simple one: keep your hands off other people's property (hats, tea cosies, banners, megaphones, radios etc) and we'll get on like one big happy family.

Know what I mean?

Wow...you really take the bait don't you. The reason people are pissed off that capsicum spray is used is because it is a dangerous weapon and the potential effects on people with asthma and heart conditions are unknown. Have there not been 90+ capsicum spray related deaths in the US? You cops are so ill-informed that you would go onto a university campus, ignorant of the wider ramifications of a 25% HECS increase, stand in the way of students exercising the only option available for stopping the damage to higher education and you'd even use a weapon like this with potentially lethal impact. How would you justify to yourself the permanent impairment or death of a student at your hands? "Ummmm...they was going to break a window....I didn't like their dreadlocks...they weren't respecting my authori-tie".

Yes, Helen, there have been some deaths associated with the use of OC spray in the US. None definitively linked to the actual substance but nonetheless associated with health problems suffered by the victim. (Fortunately in Australia, there have been no such recorded deaths).

That's why in Victoria, you never see police with OC spray on their hips at public order events such as demonstrations, marches, sporting events etc..

Or firearms, for that matter (unlike NSW and elswhere).

Many police are now tertiary-qualified in a range of disciplines. This is partly because of the different demographic from which their recruits are selected, but also because many undertake part time study. I studied part time (paying HECS, although not as much as is mooted under the reforms) for five years while holding down a full time job and raising a family.

So please don't call us ignorant of the implications of higher education fees. The line of cops you see in front of you may actually represent more degrees and diplomas than are held by protagonists on the other 'side'.

But whether the police understand or sympathise with the cause behind a protest is a moot point. The police are there to adopt an impartial position and ensure that EVERYONE's rights are protected. Students yes, but also council members who have right to meet together and office staff who have the right to work in a safe and peaceful environment.

How would I justify to myself the permanent impairment or death of a student at your hands? I couldn't. And I would be held accountable through a range of mechanisms, not the least of which would be the coroner's court and the civil jurisdiction.

But in Victoria, that's not really the way things are done. Witness the recent spate of Critical Mass rides. The police don't confront, they facilitate. No injuries, no arrests. Just a few motorists hot under the collar for a few minutes. Then everyone goes home, safe and sound.

Demonstrations in Victoria? No arrests. No injuries. No OC spray. No firearms. No worries.

Craig, you can dress up policing in as many niceties as you like - but the fact is that you and your colleagues are not neutral, you are used for political ends. The blue line that stands between students and the vc's office is a line that stifles student's ability to impact on the political process. What do you suggest students do to stop the 25% increase to HECS? Write pleading letters to the VC? Get on student representative bodies only to be completely ignored by the powers that be? You've got to acknowledge that every peaceful and 'respectable' option has been denied to students and they have learnt over the years that the only way to be heard is to take control of part of the university - to hold them to ransome. It has been an effective method in the past. It is only this kind of action that can stop the govt and universities in their tracks - it may be the only kind of action that means that your kids get to university one day.

I find on protests that people-to-people violence errupts when the police get involved. Protestors may kick in a window or storm a building but I've never seen a protestor hurt a non-uniformed individual on a protest (and I've been on many). You guys really don't belong on campus, and never used to be called on.

As for friendly Victorian police - well....they didn't look so friendly using pressure point tactics on protestors in the Richmond Secondary college protests. The cop I saw twisting a drunk and frail indigenous man's arm close to the point of breaking on Flinders St didn't look so friendly either....maybe its just me.

"....but the fact is that you and your colleagues are not neutral, you are used for political ends..."

Unlike Helen and her colleagues.

In my experience, whenever there's violence at a demonstration, professional agitators are involved.

Who are these professional agitators you speak of, and where do they graduate with such lofty titles from? If you're speaking about people that protest a lot of different issues well, its quite flattering to be called a 'professional', but I think 'concerned', 'socially aware' and 'committed' is a more fitting description.

I'll admit there are often plants in rallies, but guess what, they're not the 'prof agitators', they're called undercover policemen!!

No Helen, the blue line that stands between students and the vc's office is not a line which stifles student's ability to impact on the political process. It's a line which (hopefully) prevents them from unlawfully trespassing or damaging other people's property. That's what cops get paid to do. Stop people breaking the law. It's quite simple really, and has little to do with some political conspiracy to silence the masses.

Mobs are not reflective of the political process. Mobs represent the law of the jungle. What we saw in the foyer of the RMIT building last Wednesday afternoon was a mob. Hard core, radical activists who just wanted a fight with the police. The cause was incidental.

The kids on the 7th floor? Different story. Committed. Passionate, but ultimately acquiescent when it looked like the hard ball was about to be played. Happy to hold hands and walk away thinking they'd achieved something meaningful. And God bless their little hearts.

Mobs equal the law of the jungle. Might is right.

I'm afraid it isn't, Helen.

Your observation that people-to-people violence erupts when the police get involved is intriguing. The police are present at all demonstrations in Victoria. Big, small, medium. The vast majority of them go off peacefully and you never hear of them.

What is not present at all demonstrations, however, is the radical element intent on physical confrontation and vandalism. It's when this element get involved (which has been very rare in Victoria over the past few years) that things turn nasty.

When some people resolve to break the law and police who are present are as equally resolute not to let them, you have a confrontation.

You refer to damaging property and 'storming a building' as if it's a walk in the park. Acceptable behaviour in the political process. Sorry, Helen, it's not. I don't think you'd be so relaxed about it if it were the police breaking down your door. Storming into your home. Then it'd be 'outrageous behaviour' by the police.

Thank you for the tip about protestors never hurting a non-uniformed individual on a protest. I'll get the guys to wear civilian clothes next time and they should be sweet.

Richmond Secondary College? We dropped the ball on that one. In the wrong 100% And paid for it.

But I think you'll grudgingly agree that there hasn't been a repetition of that distasteful incident since then.

Remember the golden rule, Helen. Protestors set the tone for the day. Anti-war, pro-choice, Critical Mass, teachers, builders labourers and nurses have all been peaceful affairs. The police responded accordingly.

You roll up your sleeves and put up your dukes, expect the other guy to respond.

So stay peaceful. Stay lawful. And we'll all get along fine.

All the best, Helen.

Ok - firstly to pick up on a couple of points where you are wrong. I'm glad to hear you admit that Richmond Sec College was 100% wrong - but sorry, no, that wasn't the end of Vic police's use of pressure point tactics. My friend had the cops press the pressure points behind his ears at a Jabiluka rally in 1998 (in Melb) - thats a good few years after Richmond Sec College was it not? Cops also twisted his balls. Is that ok? So he stood in a picket line trying to block cars and he stood up for himself when cops tried to knock him out of the way, not exactly the most outrageously violent thing to do. Did he deserve to be on the receiving end of such dangerous policing?

I notice you ignored what I mentioned about the drunk indigenous man having his arm twisted by a cruel and mercenary cop on Flinders St. Can't find such a comfy justification for that one? Do you think perhaps if the indigenous guy had've been a white kid in a nice college polo top, drunkenly stumbling along with a botlle of wine after a college ball he would've received the same treatment? I highly doubt it.

Its a well researched phenomenon - just drop into a criminology class at any uni - there is a culture of racism deeply intrenched in the police force.

I can see why you speak more endearingly of the students that left the occupation. They were most likely terrified by the prospect of leather gloved men violently removing them from the building. So your intimidation worked on these students.

You say I talk about kicking in windows and doors like its a walk in the park. Well...guess what....windows don't cost much to replace, neither do doors. But the changes they're proposing at unis could mean that thousands upon thousands of kids (mostly working class and indigenous) will not be able to fulfill their potential by studying at university. I call that subtle violence - it is discrimination and it is completely backward policy. So politicians destroy the whole education framework in this country and that's ok, but some students break a few windows and that's outrageous violence??? Come on.

You don't provide any alternatives for stopping the HECS increase at university. In your learned opinion how could students succesfully stop this happening without occupying a building?

"It's a line which (hopefully) prevents them from unlawfully trespassing or damaging other people's property. That's what cops get paid to do."

I hate to admit it but I see your point. I probably souldnt like it if one of you stole my tea-cosy and kept it on the mantle piece as a trophy.

But I have an other question:

"Mobs are not reflective of the political process. Mobs represent the law of the jungle. What we saw in the foyer of the RMIT building last Wednesday afternoon was a mob. Hard core, radical activists who just wanted a fight with the police. The cause was incidental.

The kids on the 7th floor? Different story. Committed. Passionate, but ultimately acquiescent when it looked like the hard ball was about to be played. Happy to hold hands and walk away thinking they'd achieved something meaningful. And God bless their little hearts.

Mobs equal the law of the jungle. Might is right. "

So what are you saying?

You seem to think all the protestors are idiots whether they fight with you or sit pwacefully.