Around noon, a to climb over a wall of a nursery school. Their larger was DIack children. The school but a rumour started that skinheads were planning to contaminate the area later that afternoon Shops, banks and pubs soon had their windows boarded up. offices were closed; tne police advised schools to 'evacuate'.
By 5pm, the streets and markets were deserted. From about 6pm black and white youth, mainly West In. dian and Asian, , started to assemble. at the main square near a sikh temple where an AL maGue was out to take place, Tramshead dance hall where skinheads were due to arrive later that evening. some police with dogs.
crowd heard that fascists were arriving on the Woolwich ferry. There was a rush to where the ferry docked and a few windows were smashed. But it was nothing serious.
As it turned out there were no fascists on the ferry so the crowd turned back the way they came.
There was now a massive police presence which tried to disperse the crowd away from the town Wherever they Contre. went the youth were harassed by the cops. It was sheer provocation Meanwhile, the ANL meeting took had a go for it. They were chased away by Asian youth.
During the next few hours most of the arrests took place. They did so, by and large, as the crowd was dispersing. The next day the media attributed the smashed windows and 'looting' - of which there was very little -to a pre-planned riot In reality it was an exercise in legitimate self-defence, against a possible mass attack military-style offensive by the cops.