The protest Games: demonstrators target Olympics
Activists have promised they will defeat extra security to get their messages across
Friday 30 March 2012
Related articles
This summer's Olympic Games will take place against a backdrop of near-constant demonstrations, protesters have promised, as activists plan sit-ins, marches and occupations of key sites despite the huge security presence that will surround London 2012.
The vow came as the first major demonstration on an Olympic site – a protest camp against the construction of a training hall to be used during the Games – moved into its seventh day. Construction of the basketball facility at Leyton Marsh in east London was halted on Wednesday as protesters from Occupy London joined local residents who had set up camp there.
Olympic organisers were recently forced to more than double the number of security guards required for the Games from 10,000 to 23,700, pushing the cost of security up from £282m in 2010 to £553m in December 2011. They also announced earlier this month that 7,500 of the extra guards would be military personnel.
Police have also been given extra measures to deal with demonstrations, including the ability to fast-track the process of dismantling makeshift camps.
But a newly-established protest group Our Olympics, which acts as a forum for other activists to organise protests, said yesterday that it would get around the extra security, and promised the "greatest act of non violent civil disobedience of our time".
Games organisers Locog did not respond to a request for comment.
Sport blogs
iBet: A tight game between Northampton and Bradford
A tight game could be in prospect here. Northampton have been keeping things very tight of late and ...
by Gareth Purnell
18 May 2013 02:01 AM
On The Road at the Giro d’Italia: Feeling ill and racing in the rain must be pretty grim
I can’t ever watch games of football or rugby without wistfully wondering what it must be like to be...
by Martin Ayres
16 May 2013 05:10 PM
PSG and the French league must be more proactive in dealing with hooliganism
Since PSG’s exit to Barcelona in the Uefa Champions League quarter-final in April, PSG have been sur...
by Matthew Riding
15 May 2013 02:37 PM
-
Aleksandar Kolarov seals ugly end to season in the dock once again
-
The Last Word: As David Beckham bows out, spare a thought for the ordinary players facing a crueller end
-
Arsène Wenger: 'We need stability and to strengthen in the summer'
-
Sam Wallace: The second coming of Mourinho will be a reunion that can only end in tears
-
James Lawton: For all Arsenal's dreams and prettiness there must be nagging sense of futility
- 1 British business: We need to stay in the European Union - or risk losing up to £92bn a year
- 2 You thought Ryanair's attendants had it bad? Wait 'til you hear about their pilots
- 3 Sam Wallace: The second coming of Mourinho will be a reunion that can only end in tears
- 4 Civil partnerships amendment 'could wreck' gay marriage Bill, Government sources warn
- 5 It’s official: thanks to Stephen Hawking's Israel boycott, anti-Semitism is no more
Get your summer started with British Military Fitness
BMF is the UK’s biggest and best loved outdoor fitness classes
Visit York
Find out what The Independent's resident travel expert has to say about one of the most beautiful small cities in the world
Enter the latest Independent competitions
Win anything from gadgets to five-star holidays on our competitions and offers page.
Business videos from commercial thought leaders
Watch the best in the business world give their insights into the world of business.
Day In a Page
The price of pacifism
Jason Isaacs: Groupies, theatre bores and James Bond
Sealand: 'Micronation' or illegal fortress?
Legend of James Hunt has set Hollywood hearts racing
Macklemore: 'I don't have moderation'




Comments