Crew member’s pic had appeared on PA publicity without their consent

~ Tempest Valentine ~

The case for “conspiracy to commit criminal damage” against squatters in Manchester was found to be NFA (meaning “no further action”) on 4 March, with all bail conditions dropped and the case closed. This came 20 days after comrades were subjected to 52 Tactical Aid Unit officers forcefully entering their home, assaulting them, traumatising everyone and effectively exiling the crew from the city.

On 12 February around midday the crew were rudely awoken to a loud banging of two battering rams that could be heard from 2 separate entry points. The crew tried their hardest to prevent the officers from entering and ask them “under what power?”. The cops refused to answer. Eventually the cops gained entry, flooding the squat and starting to use excessive violence on the squatters. One comrade who is disabled notified the police of their disability and in response the cops escalated their brutality resulting in a head injury that caused this comrade’s eyes to be bloodshot and eventually needing to seek medical attention (of course this was denied in police custody). All of the squatters ended up injured in one way or another, some of the injuries include a chipped tooth, cuts and bruises.

It wasn’t until everyone was handcuffed and in custody that they found out their alleged offence of “conspiracy to commit criminal damage” in relation to “free Palestine activism”. Based purely on opinion and speculation, this trumped up charge was part of an ongoing timeline of events where Greater Manchester Police (GMP) have targeted the crew. No one was actually charged – instead they were all released pending investigation with incredibly harsh bail conditions: To not contact or communicate with the co-accused, to sign on to bail once a week, and remain banned from Greater Manchester for 3 months.

The GMP has ramped up its harassment of the squat crew since 2023, after one comrade’s photo was used by Palestine Action on its publicity. However, this comrade never gave Palestine Action consent to use their image. Comrades reached out to Palestine Action to take down the photo, initially this was honoured. However PA later decided to use the image again despite the lack of consent.

The first time it was apparent the crew was being strategically pursued by GMP was on the evening of 19 November 2023 where they were held hostage in a squatted building for 12 hours. As the evening rolled in so did GMP. The squatters were alerted of their presence when one comrade left the building and was subsequently detained. This comrade was escorted to a police vehicle and held for 2 hours against their will. Only released once they agreed to a voluntary interview at the cop shop at a later date. A voluntary interview is never voluntary. Whilst this was transpiring the police tried their best to gain entry to the building however they were no match for the barricades. This sparked a stale mate and ultimately the police ended up holding the crew hostage for hours.

During this time the cops stated that the Palestinian flag’s that were painted on the building were “prominent” and “offensive” graffiti. This is why the cops made their presence known that night. GMP announced that if anyone were to leave they would be arrested. GMP also wanted the crew to allow council workers to enter the building to clean the “offensive” Palestinian flag off all windows. GMPs attempts at negotiations were not accepted and after the ordeal they stood down without charging a single person.

The next blatant attack occurred on 31 May 2024 at roughly 10:45pm when Greater Manchester Police descended upon the building squatted at that time in what can only be described as a raid. The cops came barging in with electrified riot shields. This came at a time when the cops failed to find who was responsible for a recent direct action against a local Barclay’s bank. In retaliation for their lack of ability to do their jobs they arrested all comrades present at the squat without any evidence of the alleged offence. Although this event was traumatising it was more about the harassment being aimed at one specific comrade, the same person whose image Palestine Action used without consent.

This comrade had a massive target on their back and at this point it is known that they were being spied on by the police. After this set of arrests the same comrade was given the bail stipulations of to “live and sleep” at the squat and to not be in a group of 3 or more people. These conditions meant the cops would show up at the building at all times of the day and night including unsociable hours demanding to see this comrade and would not leave until they did so. The cops also would be seen to look through all accessible windows.

There was a specific situation were 2 sets of cops arrived 5 minutes apart with no idea why they were made to attend. During this period it was not uncommon for this comrade to be stalked and interrogated by the police most times they went out, and on one occasion they and the squat were surrounded by the armed response unit. This was all done as an act to harass and intimidate this comrade. Again no one was charged.

Just before the latest raid, on 10 February during the early hours of the morning, a few members of the crew went skipping for food and were surrounded by the armed response unit for 2 hours. Comrades then were subjected to being searched and their vehicles too. All whilst this was happening 2 people overheard the cops say the comrade’s name as well as “Palestine Action” and “squatters”.

[If and when Palestine Action is de-proscribed, we will be able to seek reactions to this story – Ed.]

Image: DPP_Law on Flickr CC BY 2.0