John Charlton Archive | ETOL Main Page
From Socialist Worker, No. 112, 8 March 1969, p. 4.
Transcribed & marked up by Einde O’ Callaghan for the Encyclopaedia of Trotskyism On-Line (ETOL).
SHEFFIELD:– 2,000 people marched from Tinsley Wire Works, where barbed wire is made for use in Vietnam, through the working-class districts of the city on Saturday.
They marched to a rally outside the City Hall to protest against continued US barbarity in Vietnam and in solidarity with the National Liberation Front.
Police provocation and brutality reached new heights on the demonstration. Demonstrators were harried and pushed around throughout the march and 24 were arrested.
Several marchers were charged with assault when they were simply defending themselves or their comrades from assault by the police.
Sheffield citizens who saw five policemen lay into a young demonstrator on a pavement in the town centre won’t easily forget the vicious expressions on the coppers’ faces as their boots went in.
The closing rally was ringed completely by a three-deep circle of coppers and three people were arbitrarily dragged from the crowd and later charged with assault.
If the demonstration was marked for the escalation in police violence. it had another more disgusting aspect. The Communist Party provided the stewards and some of them went out of their way to help the police to make arrests.
They pointed out ‘disruptive’ demonstrators and in one case even helped a copper to drag a comrade to a waiting police bus.
Many rank and file party members were angered by these actions and said they would push the party for a full enquiry. Three party members tore up their party cards on the spot.
The demonstration was almost completely ignored by the press, the plight of those arrested must be made known as widely as possible. Ten were fined a total of £225 on Monday and the rest face equally stiff fines, if not imprisonment.
Money is urgently needed. Please send donations to J. Wilkin, 15 Raven Road, Sheffield.
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Last updated: 25 October 2020