Belfast Food Not Bombs Assaulted by PSNI

antrim | rights, freedoms and repression | news report

Friday June 11, 2004 01:39

by darren - Belfast Food Not Bombs

directactionagainstapathy at yahoo dot co dot uk

Man Harassed For Begging on Street

Police repression of homeless people was evident on Belfast’s Botanic Avenue tonight, & if that wasn’t enough Food Not Bombs were assaulted for objecting. Not long after we set up our stall (around 7pm) 3 police officers began hassling a young man for begging outside Botanic Train Station (around 20 metres away from us). After about 15-20 minutes the police arrested this man dragging him to their van with excessive force. Several people from FNB approached the police & objected to the manner in which they were treating this man.

Immediately one officer began shouting abuse to the FNB folk & pushed one woman & then grabbed her by the arm, twisting it behind her back. He then pushed her along the street & told her she was under arrest. When 4 other people from FNB approached to provide support the officer then ‘de-arrested her’.

When another woman from FNB came forward to tell him his behaviour was not expectable the same officer pushed her & he shouted at her ‘you are an ignorant woman’. I had my details taken by the police who seemed to not like the fact that I was writing down their numbers.

At all time the FNB folks acted calmly & peacefully the force used by this officer & his general aggressive attitude was not merited in any way. In fact the other police officers seemed to be embarrassed by the actions of their colleague’s behaviour (maybe they’ve just seen too much good cop/bad cop on TV). They seemed to calm him down enough to get into the van from where he continued to shout abuse at us.

Some of the FNB crew visited Donegal Pass Police Station to make a complaint about this incident & will be lodging a complaint with the Police Ombudsman.

This is the second time within a month Belfast FNB have encountered problems from the PSNI. At our last serving the police asked us if we could move somewhere else as we were ‘attracting beggars’ (duh! That’s the point). When we didn’t comply he left stating ‘I asked you this time but we’ll see how it goes…’ (& kinda walked off with a Clint Eastwood swagger).

Belfast FNB serve meals to the homeless, hungry or curious, drawing attention to the fact that throughout the world poverty & hunger are on the increase, as more & more money is expended on stoking conflict rather than meeting human need. The group have been serving food in Belfast since October 2002 (mainly as part of anti-war actions) & Since December 03 we’ve had a soup kitchen on Botanic Avenue every two weeks.

The basic activity of FNB groups is to collect food otherwise wasted by industry & to serve free vegetarian meals on the street. In Western Europe & US the food industry around 20% of food produced ends up being dumped. This is deemed sound economic practice as it ensures supermarket shelves are brimming over with delicious delicacies bolstering our fundamental right: ‘freedom of consumer choice’.

Each FNB group is autonomous & involved in its own campaigns, actions & ideas. Check out the following sites to find out more/your local group/advice on starting your own group.

http://www.foodnotbombs.org
http://www.freewebs.com/fnbdublin/
http://www.geocities.com/direcactionagainstapathy

save preference

Comments (5 of 5)

Great work!

by St.John

Fri Jun 11, 2004 12:28

Its really hearteing to see this going on, keep the flag flying lads!!!
Ps look forward to seeing ye in Shannon

The Policeman

by jeff

Fri Jun 11, 2004 12:29

Belfast is a tidy, efficent city. They do not like homeless rabble. Remember, the Bible does not actually teach humility or kindness; it teaches that there are the Elect and the non Elect.

Thus, the homeless are the latter, by virtue of their day to day existence.

Also remember that many sections of media have helped persuade the populace, especially midddle class people with mortages, that protest politics is suspect, and having a name like " Food not Bombs" will help those people sneer " Hmm, a bit leftist, eh?"

The best thing to do is pack your stall full of Bibles and play tapes of born again Christian singing. This will make folk think that you are solid firm upstanding people like themselves, especially in Belfast.

If you need to be kind, it is imperative that your manner shows that you are being kind to help gain the respect of middle class people, a good guy badge, so to speak.

Actually stating that you are trying to make a difference will automatically be treated as suspect.

It is better to treat the poor as a hobby, because this showes the guid folk just how serious you are about yourself first and foremost, just like they are.

Human beings in the 21st century. Don't you just love their cancerous twisting of values? Arn't they so righteous?

what would yer ma's say?

by soundmigration

Sat Jun 12, 2004 00:35

Much sunny smiles to all the FNBombers in belfast. Keep up the good food and attitude and sleep well in the knowledge that yas are a credit to yourselves.

Brilliance

by diabhal

Sat Jun 12, 2004 03:59

Opposite the GPO on that crowded Mayday evening - hadn't eaten the whole day.

There it was - FNB sandwiches - absolutely beautiful sustinence; and they spent all night makin' them too. Very grateful, and would like to pay back in some way.

fnb

by a

Sat Jun 12, 2004 08:07

much inspired by your spirit of resistance & solidarity- keep dish'n;-)

Upcoming Events

New Events

Other Press

User Preferences

Feeds

Blog Feeds

Anti-Empire

The Saker

Lockdown Skeptics

Voltaire Network

Belfast Food Not Bombs Assaulted by PSNI

Comments (5 of 5)