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March 30, 2009

35,000 Protest in London Ahead of G20 Summit
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At least 35,000 protesters marched in London Saturday to kick off a
series of demonstrations leading up to the G20 summit. Protest
organizers said the turnout was three times larger than expected.
Protest organizer Chris Knight with the group G20 Meltdown said the
demonstrations will focus on the bankers who wrecked the economy.

Chris Knight: “The main message to them, really, is you are—you are
financial fools. You are the architects of this catastrophe, with the
exception of Barack Obama, of course, who has to make a choice which
side he’s on still. But those fools, what makes them feel that they are
the people qualified to sort out the mess? And if you ask me what do we
want from them, I would say it’s quite a lot, actually. It’s—we want the
earth. Give us back our planet. We want it; you’ve got it. We’re gonna
take it, and you should be good-humored about it. You are incompetent
idiots who have messed everything up, and you should step aside and let
the people take over.”

The protest against the G20 is expected to be the largest
anti-capitalist demonstration in London in years.

Terry Pierce, protester: “We say that unless the leaders of the world
break from capitalism, unless there’s a change in the whole attitude
towards climate change and towards poverty, towards the problem in the
world, then there’s no chance resolving these problems. We need a
socialist alternative.”

Large demonstrations are also expected this week in France and Germany
during the NATO summit in the French city of Strasbourg.