The Day we Won Against the Police

We prepared for a lot of things, we fluked a whole lot more on the day, but in the end the action against the Weapons Conference 2006 (otherwise known as the New Zealand Defence Industry Association) was successful in blockading and shutting down Te Papa, disrupting the conference, and humiliating delegates attending (or trying to escape!) the conference.

As per usual, the battle against the Weapons Conference was by proxy a battle with the 50 or so police and 10 or so Gibson Security (of Happy Valley infamy) sent to defend the delegates and their conference.

Our aim was to blockade the conference, and this was made all the more easier thanks to the fencing erected around Te Papa; we only had to blockade the gaps they had left open. The march arrived and we immediately headed for the main gap left at the front entrance. After a short (but painful) scuffle this first blockade had settled in. After a bit of brief chanting, one activist began to read out the crimes of those insides, interspersed by periodic "blood, blood, blood on your hands" chants, and Food Not Bombs fed the crowd lots of food.

Shortly after, sections of the 200 or so crowd were diverted to other entrances and instigated blockades at up to six entrances at one point. Police began to realise they had to do something and their first and only attempt to break up the blockades was made at the front entrance. Police bent hands, strangled, kneed backs, smashed heads, and used other pain tactics, but ultimately only encouraged another 40 or so people present to join and reinforce the blockade. Ten minutes later, the police had erected a fence behind this blockade, admitting defeat.

The next three hours were characterised by fairly stable blockades of about 10-15 people at each one, and roving bands of protesters ready to jump in and fight back against the police or delegates at every opportunity. At one point, police tried to open the side of one of the fences to let a delegate through only to be rebuffed by about 30 people who pushed the fence closed and in fact pushed it well back beyond where it had originally stood. One of the cops got squeezed onto the wrong side of the fencing and the rest freaked and tried to drag him back over to their side; he was consequently pied. In another incident, the fencing broke and protesters forced it back, and police tried to stand ground. While they tried to fix it, they were drenched in water thrown at them, had their hats flicked off them and appropriated and were slapped, while they punched and batoned a few.

Delegates trying to leave were forced to climb over fencing and spat on, harassed and screamed at. Many top army officers and others had to leave out the back with a heavy police contingent surrounding them.

No arrests were made all day; the police simply could not risk the instant riot they would have spurred if anyone had been arrested. There was an amazing collective spirit and, while people may have never heard of a blockade at the start of the day, within 20 minutes most people were instigating their own blockades and coordinating linking arms on their own accord.

In the end, as numbers began to dwindle, we came together in the front as one group and again, as these numbers dwindled, we left as one large group with no stragglers leaving the police no opportunity to pick anyone off.

What we did right:

Fluked, or prepared for, this is what I think we did right:

• At the very start, before the march, we took everyone through a very basic blockading practice session (simply squishing up, sitting down, linking arms). This prepared people for later, and encouraged a feeling of collectivity rather than individual atomisation.
• The march was slow, and kept real tight. Activists made sure to spread themselves throughout the march, and not just at the front as usual (which often results in the head being separated from the body).
• In the moments after the first blockade was sorted things still felt a bit loose, but the group chants combined with the hand movements, as trivial as it may sound, helped congeal a collective spirit.
• Food Not Bombs also distributed a lot of cake, pizza and other food in these first moments which kept things tight and spirits up.
• One organiser took it upon himself to coordinate the other blockades around the building. This was important at the start as most weren't sure how they could help, and kept momentum going.
• Blockading tactics were simple, and did not require technical lock-on gear, but rather numbers and a strong sense of collectivity.
• Leaving together and keeping an eye on our numbers and strength versus the police was important, and done well.