Highlights from
Joel Gilmour's livestream and
Rukshan's livestream, with a recap.
Sometime right before the stream's start, cops were apparently firing gas and rubber bullets at the protestors. Riots cops and armored vehicles herding them away from wherever they started earlier, I don't have any footage of that.
They head to the memorial, where according to chitchat on the stream and Gilmour, the new plan was to gather at the Shrine of Remembrance, give a speech, wave some flags, and have a moment of silence in honor of the dead, before moving on.
They start their speech and unfurl their flags as the crowd collects on the steps.
In under 5 minutes, the riot police are already arriving, blocking off the main path in and out of the memorial.
Change of plans. The protestors debate for a minute whether to GTFO, then decide to stay to make a bigger statement. The organizers emphasize among themselves and the crowd that there is to be no violence from them, despite their displeasure at the police turning up in force with guns out at a solemn place.
They settle in.
A standoff develops as more cops and more protestors arrive. A few retards run their mouths in the crowd, but no one actually does anything nasty. A particularly conscientious person roams the grounds gathering up trash so the demonstration won't leave a mess behind. Unluckily, he drops a bottle as the riot cops approach, making everyone even more jumpy, and the cops raise their guns. The crowd breaks out into a new chant of "We want peace!" as the police begin herding the demonstrators back towards the steps of the Shrine.
Gilmour's stream shits itself here, of course, necessitating a switch to Rukshan's for the resolution.
Extended negotiations happen for a good half-hour, as the cops order the protestors to leave via a side path. At least half of the crowd ultimately does. The remainder stay put -- some out of fear, because rumors have spread that police have attacked and arrested some of those who tried to leave via the side street, some because they're more ornery and demand to leave down the main path in a grand statement.
It looks like a resolution is developing for at least the protestors who are still there because they're scared -- Rukshan and the other press encourage them to follow them down the side path the police have told them they can use, so they'll be on video when they go. Then things suddenly go to shit. The entire final 15 minutes is below for full context and because I could get it down to a reasonable size. If you're not interested in watching the final phase of negotiations, skip to
6:15 to cut to the beginning of the arrests and the police opening fire, routing the protestors.
Final score -- half the protestors get fucked up, and the government shoots up a war memorial on camera*. No one wins.
(*With rubber bullets and tear gas, but still pretty shitty)
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