Timeee,
true, My original thoughts were that the protest was a joke, and it was totally counterproductive for them, but I guess the estimated numbers were well below what the police expected.
I still think it looked pretty bad for both sides, can't say what the main protaganists were doing, they were not visible behind the ranks of police, which just made the whole thing look silly.
As far as controlling the situation peacefully, then I'm afraid that even with such overwhelming numbers, the police only did a fair job, regardless of the "rent-a-crowd" or "anarchist" elements, the police should really have just ignored them and snatched the one or two agitators, rather than hemming them all into the memorial park in Wynard Lane.
By all accounts it was a fairly inept demonstration, and thats the reference I was making, although I can't help wondering (yes barbarossa) if this is the reaction to a fairly pathethic demo, what methods would the police use if it was serious ?
Rubber Bullets ?