Attempt To Protest U2 Glastonbury Set Leads To Violence
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Saturday, 25 June 2011 |
Written by James Conlon
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A team of Glastonbury security guards clashed with Art Uncut protestors yesterday as the group attempted to highlight the Irish band’s “convoluted” tax affairs.
The Art Uncut protestors attempted to display a large inflatable banner which read the words “U Pay Tax 2?” during the Irish band’s set, but security guards quickly stepped in to stop the protest, taking away the banner and pinning some of the more resistant demonstrators against a fence, according to reports.
The demonstration began in order to highlight the band’s supposedly “convoluted” tax affairs. In 2006 U2 transferred their financial affairs from Ireland to the Netherlands - a move which many have attributed to the band looking to avoid the large taxes imposed in their homeland. Also featuring on the protestors' sign was a bag of money, depicted inbetween an Irish and a Dutch flag.
According to Sky News, the protestors began inflating their sign before quickly being wrestled to the ground by a team of ten security guards. The security officers are then said to have deflated the sign and confiscated it.
Although no protestors were arrested or made to leave the site, there have been complaints about the way in which their demonstration was handled by security, with some individuals supposedly pinned against the ground and a fence. A few of the security officers were also said to have been threatening the individuals with further violence.
NME have quoted a spokesperson for the festival as saying that the decision was made exclusively by the security team, claiming that they were under no orders from organisers to stop the protest.
They said: "The stewards decided to stop the banner going up, but it was their decision and not under instruction from organisers. They clearly decided the banner could be dangerous and could disrupt people's view. It was a decision taken on the grounds of health and safety, not on the grounds of censorship."
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