Police arrested 5 people during a peaceful demonstration outside a
Brighton-based arms manufacturer today. Thirty people turned out to
demonstrate against the factory during a themed 'Bad Karaoke'
demonstration. Over 40 police were present.
The police used a local byelaw to seize the karaoke machine and
arrested 5 people during a rendition of 'We are the champions',
one of them aged only 16. Although members of a BBC film crew were
present this did not stop the police from aggressively arresting 3
more people. Police then surrounded protesters and pushed them away
from the site of their regular Wednesday demonstrations to the bottom
of the road.
Sarah Johnson said 'We have been protesting outside this factory
for four years. This is the most heavy handed policing we've seen
outside this factory in over two years. Arms dealers EDO have used
Sussex police as their rotweillers before and their efforts have
ended in failure and humiliation for the company. This is a desperate
act by a failing company. The community has shown time and again that
this aggression will not silence us. We will continue to protest
against EDO until it has been shut down'.