Demonstrations in Dumfries, Saturday 18th May – video
Written by author on May 19, 2013
Here’s a film from David Slater showing the demonstrations held on the Whitesands on Saturday 18th of May 2013.
There was a large police presence during marches earlier in the day, culminating with competing demonstrations on the Whitesands.
The intitial demonstration of around 80 people was organised by the Scottish Defence League, and a counter demonstration of around 150, was brought together by the Dumfries branch of the Trades Union Council, supported by politicians and councillors from the region.
TUC representitive, John Dennis, said the counter demonstration was organised to bring the message that good relationships exist between all communities in Dumfries and they don’t want that to be marred by people trying to disrupt that.
The following statement was released after the event; “Police Scotland are pleased that the demonstration and public procession held in Dumfries today passed without serious incident. Those involved behaved in a responsible manner. We pass our thanks to everyone who was involved today. A few arrests were made for minor offences however there was very little disruption to the town and wider community.”
A senior police officer on the scene declined to comment on numbers of officers involved policing the event, or its cost, but large numbers of police were in evidence, with estimates of 100+, along with riot vans and many other police vehicles – probably the largest police presence Dumfries has seen for many years.
