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15th October
2008
Campaigners Shut Down Bomb Factory
Anti-arms protesters made good on their promise to march despite
a massive police operation. Over 200 police attempted to stifle
protests by using batons, pepper spray, dogs and brute force against
a demonstration.
350 demonstrators took to the streets calling for the closure
of EDO MBM/ITT, a factory manufacturing military components
for use by US and UK forces in Iraq and Afghanistan and the
Israeli army in Palestine. The factory was forced to close for
the day.
The march began at Sussex University campus where police stopped
and searched protesters gathering for the demonstration. Three
people were arrested for minor charges before the march even
started.
Protesters pushed their way through police lines. A stand off
occurred at the bottom of the road leading to the arms factory.
The demonstration split spontaneously resulting in two hundred
activists taking to the woods
behind Brighton's weapons
manufacturers.
After evading the police cordon the demonstrators marched into
Brighton city Centre
Chloe Marsh press spokesperson for Smash EDO said "The
overwhelming energy in the crowd today showed that the campaign
against EDO MBM/ITT continues to grow from strength to strength
and bomb-builders are not welcome in this town."
Smash EDO demonstrate every week outside EDO MBM/ITT and are
planning a Halloween demonstration against the factory on the
29th of October
For more info, photos or interviews call
07754135290 or email
smashedopress@riseup.net
Notes
for Journalists The Company
EDO MBM Technologies Ltd are the sole UK subsidiary of huge U.S
weapons manufacturer EDO Corp.From their base in Moulescoombe
Brighton, EDO MBM manufacture vital parts for the Hellfire and
Paveway weapons systems,laserguided missilesused extensively in
Iraq, Lebanon, Palestine
and Somalia. EDO Corp were recently acquired by ITT in a multi-billion
pound deal. ITT's links to fascism go back to the 1930s. The founder
Sosthenes Behn was the first foreign businessman received by Hitler
after
his seizure of power. The
Campaign
There has been active campaign against the presence o f EDO MBM
in Brighton since the outbreak of the Iraq war.Campaigners include
students, Quakers, Palestine solidarity activists, anti-capitalists
and academics. Despite an injunction under the protection of harassment
act (which failed) and over forty arrests the campaign is still
going strong.Their avowed aim is to expose EDO MBM and their complicity
in war crimes and to remove them from Brighton. They hold regular
weekly demos outside the
Moulescoombe factory on Wednesday's between
4 and 6. THE FILM
On the Verge is an independent film about the SMASH EDO Campaign
“In 2004 a group of Brighton peace campaigners began to bang
pot and pans outside their local arms manufacturers EDO MBM in
disgust of their part in the Iraq war. This has grown into the
Smash EDO campaign, which has cost the company millions, been
the subject of large scale police operations and has tested the
right to protest in the UK.Using activist, police and CCTV footage
plus interviews with those involved in the campaign, 'On The
Verge' tells the story of one of the most persistent and imaginative
campaigns to emerge out of the UK's anti-war movement and direct
action
scene.”
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