On the 14th November Michael Chessum, the current President of the University of London Union, was arrested for organising a political demonstration on campus. He has been elected to public office to fulfill a specific mandate which the Metropolitan police, by force, will not allow him to fulfill. Furthermore, in his bail conditions he is specifically prohibited from defending the University of London Union from its imminent abolition. The whims of a chief inspector trump the democratic mandate of an elected officeholder. On the same day it is discovered that police officers in Cambridge attempted to hire informants within student activist circles. It must be made clear however that this was not a oneoff, a ‘rogue cop’, this is common practice, on every campus, and on this occasion this particular officer was caught. In a similar vein Cambridge student activists are not uniquely targeted and likewise Mr Chessum’s arrest, while unfortunate, is newsworthy but not especially interesting. Police intimidation, violence and surveillance are most commonly experienced by the working class and minorities outside of university campuses. But this is where we are and by taking this action we hope to extend solidarity to those communities.
Posted on: Sun, 17 Nov 2013 23:30:31 +0000
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