David Hansen wrote:
Lets reclaim publicly used space for the vast majority of ordinary decent
people to come and go as they please without running the gauntlet of the
yobs.

What happens when "ordinary decent people" reclaim public space and
as a result they are oppressed by those who are supposed to be
maintaining law and order? See the Daily Wail for examples.


The short answer is that it barely ever happens, hence why the very few
cases where police/CPS do arrest "have a go hero" types generally make
it onto the front page of the Daily Wail the following day, followed
immediately by an embarrassed dropping of all charges.

The high-profile exceptions tend to be 'ordinary decent people' who
"reclaim public space" in lunatically dangerous ways, such the teacher
who fired an air rifle at a group of children, or more recently the
gunsmith who fired a shotgun at passing rally cars.

In general, as long as your means for "reclaiming public space" doesn't
involve shooting anyone, then the police will almost always be pleased
rather than vindictive.

--
John Band
john at johnband dot org
www.johnband.org