Harriet Fletcher
High-Speed Rail 2 (HS2) is a high-speed rail line intended to run from London to Crewe and Manchester; however, deforestation of ancient woodlands and a £108 billion state budget have encouraged strong opposition. Climate change urgency has increased environmental protest placing pressure on policing organisations (Button, John and Brearley, 2001). Four hundred incidents of police violence against fracking and HS2 protesters have been reported (Griffin, 2020). This research aims to understand the impacts of both uniformed and undercover policing on the anti-HS2 community. I interviewed 7 HS2 activists and secondary data – videos, blogs and social media posts were collected to explore the policing experience of HS2 activists. Findings showed HS2 activists were subject to brutality from police, private security and bailiffs. Results showed issues of accountability and ethics in private policing and security like Pont Valley, Durham in which private security and police prioritised private interests over protesters’ safety (Stephens- Griffin et al., 2021). The shared trauma of the anti-HS2 community built cohesion; however, activists did have suspicions of infiltration from corporate spies. Results supported patterns of environmentalism repression in the UK found in Stephens- Griffin et al. (2021); Gilmore et al. (2019) and Stephens- Griffin (2021).
Harriet Fletcher
The High Speed Railway 2 has ignited strong opposition, environmental damage to the ancient woodlands it passes through, and the £108 billion tax-funded budget being the main motivators.
Findings
Three themes were found: intimidation, injustice and trauma were found. The absence of accountability, via legal immunity for the police and HS2 Ltd., was a central influence to the social injustice experienced by the anti-HS2 community and environmental damage comitted by HS2 Ltd.
Trauma Unifying the anti-HS2 community
The violence inflicted against anti-HS2 activists and the loss of ancient woodlands after camp evictions bonded activists together via their shared trauma. 5 interviews felt police intimidation did not cause disengagement in eco-activism opposing the derailing effects found in Stephen-Giffin (2021) in which trauma, arrest and 'agent provocateurs' distracted activists from environmentalism. In contrast, 2 participants found psychological and physical trauma did effect their ability to engage in ecoactivism (participant 1 and 3). Despite this, all interviewees felt their shared experience of loss from camp evictions built stronger community cohesion. Community cohesion can buffer the effects of trauma, which suggests the "trauma bonds" (participant 1) formed between activists may mitigate some of the traumatic effects of their negative policing experiences.
Conclusion
The expression of police brutality is contingent - ignoring the violence against activists but disciplining any behaviour postpong HS2's construction, sometimes with great force. Activists' experiences of intimidation and injustice drew similitaries to the policing experiences of anti-fracking protesters in Barton Moss and at the Pont Valley coal mine in Durham. This suggests these instances of police violence are not isolated, but a symptom of a wider systemic issue.
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