Glasgow protesters rejoice as men freed after immigration van standoff [Tweet-heavy]

[Emrys]

Today is Eid al-Fitr. It's also the first day of new Scottish Parliament term. This happened in First Minister Nicola Sturgeon's constituency:

Hundreds of people surrounded vehicle men were held in and chanted ‘these are our neighbours, let them go’

Campaigners have hailed a victory for Glaswegian solidarity and told the Home Office “you messed with the wrong city” as two men detained by UK Immigration Enforcement were released back into their community after a day of protest.

Police Scotland intervened to free the men after a tense day-long standoff between immigration officials and hundreds of local residents, who surrounded their van in a residential street on the southside of Glasgow to stop the detention of the men during Eid al-Fitr.

Staff from Immigration Enforcement are believed to have swooped on a property in Pollokshields early on Thursday morning and detained people.

By mid-morning, a crowd of about 200 protesters surrounded the vehicle, preventing it from driving away, and chanting “these are our neighbours, let them go”, with one protester lying under the van to prevent it driving off.

www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2021/may/13/glasgow-residents-surround-and-block-immigration-van-from-leaving-street

[If anyone can't access the tweets below, I'll transcribe them on request, but since there are so many, it will make the post less cumbersome to read if I don't do so now.]

As the crowd grew throughout the day, that protester ended up lying underneath the van for eight hours.

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The two men initially detained in the UK Home Office's callous dawn raid were finally released into the custody of renowned human rights lawyer Aamer Anwar (on the left in the blue face mask) after negotiations between him, the police, local SNP MP Alison Thewliss and interventions by other Scottish politicians, including First Minister Sturgeon herself, who reportedly had a forthright video exchange with the UK Home Office.



Here's Scotland's Justice Secretary Humza Yousaf:

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Some social media posts and images during the day:

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[X-posted in General Discussion: https://www.democraticunderground.com/100215427350 ]

[IbogaProject]

1. Free Scotland & Northern Ireland

Free both Scotland & Northern Ireland now!!!