Recent
Watch also...
G20: Hardcore of anarchists clad in black behind the violence
By Nick Allen and Caroline Gammell
Amid the thousands of protesters who descended on the Bank of England yesterday a hard core of European anarchists, clad head to toe in black and their faces obscured by scarves, were behind the intermittent outbursts of violence.
They were co-ordinated and could be clearly seen communicating by mobile phone, identifying weak points in police lines and surging towards them.
As one avenue was closed off by police they quickly retreated, vanishing into the crowd before regrouping and trying another angle.
Some spoke English but Italian, French, German and Polish voices could also be heard in the melee as they shouted abuse at police.
It was clearly not the first time they had taken part in a riot and it was they who broke windows at the Royal Bank of Scotland before crawling inside.
One of their number, wearing a black mask, smashed the glass with a metal bar and another sprayed "Scum" and "Burn" on the side of the bank.
An anarchist behind a black balaclava said he was Polish, while another used broken English as he forced his way through peaceful protesters urging his followers to attack the police. Others carried Italian and French flags.
Some of the European anarchists who flooded into London for the protests are believed to have planned their tactics in a meeting at a squat in Whitechapel, east London.
They are believed to have scouted out the area ahead of the protests before deciding to operate in small groups rather than as one large block that could be surrounded by police.
Security sources believe they included members of notorious groups from across Europe, some of whom had already taken part in a week of anarchist strikes in Italy.
The groups with members in London for the G20 are thought to have included Italy's Guerrigilieri Anomali (Anomalous Warriors) and the French Anarch-Autonomist group.
There are also thought to have been protesters associated with Germany's ANTIFA, an anti-fascist umbrella group whose members clashed with police at the G8 riots, and Attac, a left-wing group with ties to anti-globalisation protesters across Europe.
Groups who attended the meeting at the east London squat also included the home-based Whitechapel Anarchist Group, Class War and the Wombles.
Police believe members of another anarchist group calling itself the Convergence Crew, were also at the protests after they took over a disused east London pub as a headquarters.
Detectives think groups associated with the Poll Tax riots of 1990 may also have reunited for the G20.
However, when some of those involved removed their black masks for a breath of fresh air, it was clear that they were still in their teens. As police in riot gear, backed up by horses, charged once again one young anarchist shouted to another: "Has there ever been anything like this in London before?" The older hand replied: "Not for years."
Source: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/financetopics/g20-summit/5090597/G20-Hardcore-of-anarchists-clad-in-black-behind-the-violence.html