We Are Norwich

A couple of months ago it was announced that the EDL (English Defense League) were planning on setting up a protest in Norwich town centre. The aim of their demo was to protest against the city council's decision to ban Pastor Alan Clifford of Norwich Reformed Church for promoting and distributing anti-Islam leaflets. At around 1pm on the 10th November the anti-protest, made up of a group that called themselves We Are Norwich, and which consisted of over double the amount of people than the visiting EDL, arrived at City Hall and congregated around the barrier that had been erected 20m away from the area the EDL were planning on marching to. I went along as a part of the Norwich University College of the Arts group, and was right at the front for most of the demonstration. Amid the chants of 'black and white, unite and fight, fuck the EDL' and 'whose streets? our streets' (mostly led by an inspiring little girl in the middle of the crowd), I was by the barrier taking photographs and keeping the people around me updated with the events transpiring on Twitter. Despite it being a peaceful protest on the We Are Norwich side of things, the EDL apparently started fights on their march down to city hall, with around 4 people being arrested and 2 people injured.

Here are my photographs from the day: