This followed the police in riot gear raiding the HQ of ‘Stop G8’, a disused police station in Beak Street, Soho, which had been squatted by ‘Stop G8’ protesters. Luckily, the protester who threatened to jump more than 60 foot was prevented by specialist officers, who pulled him away to safety.
During the so-called ‘Siege of Soho’, after an hour-long stand-off, police officers entered the building using angle-grinders and removed at least 50 squatters, who had been using it as a base, when demonstrating against the forthcoming G8 summit. The squatters included German, French, Dutch, Belgian and Spanish protesters, all of whom occupied the building only 3 days prior to the raid. Websites had declared the building a headquarters, at the centre of so much ‘decadence’ or ‘commerce’. The squatters claimed to be protesting against globalisation and the capitalist system, which they believe isn't working. They felt that this was one of the ways of getting their message out to people.
Inside the building, police found drink and drugs among banners that protesters were planning to use in the so-called ‘Carnival against Capitalism’ later that week. Following the police raid, scuffles broke out in surrounding London streets with 200 protesters, of whom at least 57 were arrested.
One man who worked a few doors down on Beak Street said that the squatters had clashed with a group of suited men on the previous Friday evening. He said that they were openly smoking cannabis and drinking, becoming aggressive if approached by locals. An Italian tourist became frightened for his children when he accidentally stumbled into noisy protests on Regent Street.
And the cost? A massive policing bill, plus the cost to landlords and property/car owners of repairing riot-damaged commercial properties/cars, in and around Soho. What we must ask ourselves is: could this have been prevented?
If the landlords of that disused police station and other empty buildings in the area had placed carefully vetted ‘guardians’ into the property as soon as they became empty, they would have lived in and looked after the properties 24/7, and maybe this wouldn’t have happened. Using property guardians can help landlords avoid the risk of damage and occupation by squatters.
The only other options open to property owners are hiring in expensive security firms, who aren’t allowed to challenge intruders anyway, or boarding up the buildings which looks ugly and still leaves them at risk of occupation by squatters.
The day after the riots took place, Guardians of London was the ONLY property guardian company to have actively visited and spoken with owners of all commercial premises in and around Soho, in order to to reassure employees and landlords alike.
From talking to them, it was obvious that the workers in Soho were genuinely concerned about the recent activity down there. In fact, they were so worried that we subsequently met up with the community police centre in Soho and local officers on the streets to let them know how our services can help prevent this sort of activity in future. They were very positive about our services and will pass that message on to local landlords.
Simply put, services like ours can protect the empty spaces of Soho and stop the squatters getting in and this sort of riot developing, in the first place.
