Friday, March 25, 2011

Glasgow University Student Occupation Attacked by Police


Glasgow University Protest (Image by JackSteruk309)
As many as 100 police attacked students at Glasgow University, on March 22, in attempt to evict them from Hetherington Research Club, which they have occupied for the past seven weeks. Police utilized dogs and helicopters, according to Steve James, of the WSWS. Students were dragged out by force, with at least one suffering a concussion and several suffering other injuries.

Students have been protesting cutbacks to courses and students services and attempts by Principal Muscatelli to make the university more profitable to business. The university faces a 450 million pound shortfall. Protests and occupations have also been ongoing at the University College London (UCL), Glasgow University, Goldsmiths, School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), University of East Anglia, Edinburgh University, and the University of Kent, according to reports by Occupy CA (see UCU Strike and Occupations).

In response to the heavy handed police tactics, students marched to the main university building and occupied the Senate, according to Occupy CA. The Hetherington building was quickly re-occupied with the consent of the university administration which agreed to keep the police off campus. The attack on the students was condemned by professors, with over 100 signing a statement criticizing the university’s excessive use of force, according to the WSWS.

For more on Scottish University protests:

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