101124 Student Protest 306 Police surveillance team at a student protest, November 24, 2010.
Police surveillance team at a student protest. A rather old police van was left on its own, unguarded in the middle of the march. Police claimed it had broken down and the crew abandoned it for fear of their safety - but they left their protective equipment inside & there were several thousand police within 100 metres who could easily have removed the van as the protest had not even started at that time. Two Forward Intelligence Teams (FIT) were in place from the start positioned where they had a clear view of the van and they recorded the attacks that followed. Afterwards it was claimed that this was a "bait van" to attract activists so that they could be filmed. A group of young schoolgirls surrounded the van in an attempt to protect it from the rioters.Whitehall.24 Nov 2010.