The World Wide Rally For Freedom & Democracy took place on the day of the Equinox, 20th March 2021. Fortunately, @lighteye had reminded me of it and I saw on Telegram that a gathering had been announced in Edinburgh.

I went along with camera and Flame, veterans as we are of such campaigns. Our good friend JMC met up with us in the Meadows by the tennis courts.

In the event, the march was derailed by targeted police tactics which were ultimately successful. The procession was unable to reach its destination of Bute House, home to the First Minister of Scotland.

Those who turned out were few in number and the drama took place on the Meadows, which was sunny and full of folk. Most bystanders seemed generally sympathetic and engaged in conversation or voiced their own support; some were bemused and looked on; others were overheard dismissing us as "a bunch of anti-vaxxers" :).

There was no overt violence or explicit use of force by the uniformed, booted men and women. Apart from the targeted arrests of the two 'leaders', as well as the arrest of a young girl with a megaphone who had pissed one of the officers off and thereafter refused to give her details, the Police's passive-aggressive moves and tactics were sufficient. The marchers tried some evasive tactics but the mood was demoralised and the police blocked every attempted move.

This post - in photographs and accompanying words, is the story of what I witnessed:

Gathering Under Watchful Eyes:

a cold greeting upon arrival at the meeting point, an igloo but no crowd

folk begin to arrive and stand around in groups

watched by masked police 'liaison' officers

hugging is now punishable by death, or didn't you know?

"Right gather round folks, let's get this thing started"

the announcement is that we are going to march to Bute House, residence of the 'head' of the Scottish Government

Marching Across The Meadows - Sunshine And Song:

as we set off, more people got up off the grass and joined the procession which, I'm guessing, peaked at a few hundred strong

there were a few police accompanying the march, but that didn't deter merry charioteers

police are holding back, no interactions or interdictions issued...what's up?!

Flame tugs mercilessly, wanting to be next to the photographer, her human side-kick

in spite of misgivings, it was beginning to feel like ol' style rock'n'roll

If you like, you can watch a short video of this part of the march.

Kettled And Blockaded:

the optimism was short-lived as the Police vans rolled in

butts parked at the Meadows' rear end, trap set and ready to spring

...a line of 'thou-shalt-not-pass' robots with weapons and masks

highly visible 'high visibilty' jackets approach the procession head-on

folk who tried to get through were blocked (I just walked around taking photos :)

one lad got pissed off at this ridiculous curtailment of freedom and let it be known

others tried to talk and reason, appealing to 'humanity' perhaps

but order-following uniforms are merely following orders - "it's the LAW coz oor corporate-poodle bosses say so"

Successful 'Decapitation' Through Unlawful Arrests:

the 'leaders' had been identified and were pounced upon even as the line of uniformed police was approaching the crowd - Mr. Kilt found himself assaulted

...everyone filmed and recorded...

the slogan on a sweatshirt offered up an opinion that seemed hard to argue with

'leader' number two was similarly nabbed for no discernible reason

someone was using a megaphone just behind the group of four police in the preceding image, stridently calling out the unlawfulness of this 'policing'...a police 'liaison officer', face masked in anger, approached...

having got her attention, he warned her to stop but she bravely carried on. He quoted 'section' this and that, voice angry, provoked, finger waggingly threatening to arrest her

indeed, we passed her later on as she sat surrounded by a gang of four and she told us - to the background tones of the police telling us to move on - that she had been arrested for not providing her details

we protested that this was unlawful, even citing Rice v Connolly: 1966, but the Order-Followers ignored us and instead accompanied their dangerous charge to the van...

..."keeping people" indeed!

Turned Back, Dispursed:

'leaders' gone, route blockaded, the remaining marchers headed off back across the Meadows towards the original meeting point, followed by Big Brother's enforcers

in an attempt to outwit their minders, instead of going straight on, the marchers took a sharp left towards Lauriston Place

the guardian angels of democracy huffed and puffed behind the dwindling number of marchers, now blended in with the non-marchers

this move required a police rethink: vans were rerouted and fresh directions given

Winding Down & A Final Close Encounter:

At this point I got left behind in a search for Flame and JMC, from whom I had become separated. The marchers took another 'surprise' sharp turning and were lost to my sight. It wasn't until 20 minutes later that we followed in their steps and came across the megaphone girl who was being bullied and arrested by the police. We decided to walk on to Bute House in Charlotte Square and complete the pilgrimage. When we arrived we found it deserted. An indoctrinated sign mocked the efforts of the day. Hope? Respect? WHAT are we in together please? WTF is a 'we'?

So that was that! We headed off home along the Waters of Leith, where Flame had an exciting time playing 'I Dare You' with a couple of swans who were totally up for it, unlike the vast number of their human counterparts (one of whom I felt like).

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frankbacon (66) 3 years ago

HIVE!D

WoW

Historic...

$0.22

1 vote

barge (66) 3 years ago

Thanks Frank 🙏🤗😎

T'was a bit more 'revolutionary' where Monty was filming - the Aussies even managed to get someone freed from fuzzy grips!

No ordinary litter in Scotland, just bb-Q waste and good ol' fashioned doggy poop:

We're gittin' ready tae fry...........

$0.04

informationwar (64) 3 years ago

Upvoted!

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