There will be another peaceful demonstration in support of Gary McKinnon, at the Home Office in Marsham Street, London, this coming Friday 10th October 2008 from 5pm

Will the new Ministers of State at the Home Office, who are expected to be Phil Woolas and Vernon Coaker, signal a different attitude towards Gary McKinnon's extradition to the USA case by the Home Office bureaucracy ?

Time:
5pm to 7pm Friday 10th October 2008

Location:
Home Office main entrance, Peel Building (between the defensive / ornamental moats ponds) , Marsham Street, Westminster, London - see this location map

Nearest Tube stations:
Westminster or St. James Park - see the Transport for London website for journey planning details.

Buses:
London Bus Route 88 Clapham Common - Vauxhall - Westminster - Oxford Circus - Camden Town, stops directly outside the Home Office main entrance in Marsham Street, supposedly every 7 or 8 minutes.

Public toilets:

There is a Westminster Council run public toilet quite close to the Home Office in Regency Place:-- turn right along Horseferry Road at the southern end of Marsham Street.

See Regency Place public toilet location map

Name: Regency Place SW1
Information: Urinal - Men only
Number: 32
Wheelchair Access: Yes
Type: PC
Gender: M
Opening Times: 24hrs
Baby: No
Disabled Access: No

Name: Regency Place
Information:
Number: 40
Wheelchair Access: Yes
Type: APC
Gender: Unisex
Opening Times: 24hrs
Baby: No
Disabled Access: Yes

Contact details:
email us here at info@Freegary.org.uk. If you are IT security conscious, and technically capable, then you can make use of our PGP Public encryption key.

We will pass on your messages to the demonstration organisers, or try to answer your queries ourselves.

The Home Office is, inappropriately, just within the Designated Area around Parliament Square, so the Serious Organised Crime and Police Act 2005 sections 132 to 138 apply. The organisers have already applied for the necessary prior written permission,

Loudspeakers and loudhailers are banned, but, given the volume of the chanting at the previous demonstrations, these would probably be superfluous anyway.

The Police can impose arbitrary extra conditions, at the time of the demonstration, but, hopefully, if things go as per the previous demonstration on 2nd September, there should be no problems.

More hints and tips about going on a demonstration in central London:

The London Autistic Rights Movement is organising a demonstration in support of recently diagnosed Asperger's syndrome sufferer Gary McKinnon, who is facing imminent extradition to the United States of America, rather than facing a UK court, for his alleged computer hacking activities over 6 years ago.

Date: Sunday 28th September

Time: 4 pm - 5pm

Location:

Embassy of the United States of America,
24 Grosvenor Square
London
W1A 2LQ

Location Maps:

Map on the US Embassy website

Streetmap.co.uk map

Nearest Public Toilets:

Westminster Council publish an online map of their Public Toilet locations:

The nearest Public Toilet is at the Oxford Street end of Balderton Street - about 2 blocks North of the middle of Grosvenor Square - equivalent in distance to the West - East length of Grosvenor Square itself.

Name: Balderton Street Information: Number: 42 Wheelchair Access: Yes Type: APC Gender: M/F Opening Times: 24hrs Baby: No Disabled Access: Yes

Public Transport:

Nearest Tube stations are Marble Arch and Bond Street
Bus routes 148 and 14A along Park Lane

Press and Media Contact: - Anya

Use the comments below or email us here at info@FreeGary.org.uk (using our PGP Encryption Key if you know how) and we will pass on media enquiries to the organisers

Although the US Embassy is not within the SOCPA Designated Area, like the Home Office, it is obviously one of the top potential terrorist targets in Europe, let alone the UK, so there are armed Police guards (armed with semi-automatic assault rifles / sub machine guns etc.).

Dear All,

I am now the Police Liaison person for the protest on Sunday, or "steward" to use their term.

We have permission from the Metropolitan police in writing to protest peacefully in a dedicated enclosure outside the US embassy from 4-5pm.

I've spoken with the Met police and there are some guidelines that we ALL need to follow:

There will be 3 police officers, Seargeant Rudlin-Jones and also 2 PCs - looking after us. All are autism trained.

We ' ll be in a dedicated enclosure, made up of make shift barriers, right in front of the Embassy.

[...]

We MUST stay inside this enclosure at all times.

The 'Pen' area - not to imprison us but because police have duty to protect embassies and ensure that non-protesting members of the public can move around us freely. It is important that we keep to designated pen area.

If someone wants to leave pen area, for whatever reason, they must TELL ME FIRST and I will let the police know so that they are aware of what is happening and that the person going for a walk is not up to no good.

We are not allowed to walk around or towards the Embassy so people who are leaving the pen area at any time of the protest (having spoken to me first) should be directed to walk *away* from the Embassy

There will be armed police - this normal procedure for the US embassy and not because of us or anything we need to be concerned about.

DO NOT approach the armed officers. They are doing their job and if any kind of "altercation" occurs the police officers have a duty to protect the armed officers so it would cause potential difficulties and I'm sure none of us want it to come to that.

If the police feel that someone is doing something they are not comfortable with, they will speak to me first and then I will speak to the relevant person about it. So if I ask anyone to stop doing something, or I ask you a question about why you are doing something, PLEASE do not take it personally. I just want us all to have a peaceful day and adhere to the rules that the Met Police have given us.

I will be wearing a fluorescent yellow jacket on the day (at the request of the Met Police) so you will all be able to spot me very easily!

The plan is for us to arrive in the pen area outside the US Embassy (I'm sure it will be very noticeable) by 4pm so that we can start our protest on time.

I will arrive there early - around 3.30pm, so if you're not sure where to go, look out for a girl in a fluorescent yellow jacket. If anyone gets totally lost, my mobile is

[mobile phone number available to the media via info@freegary.org.uk]

Sorry to sound all bossy in this email - I hope you understand that I just want to make everyone aware of the rules and my 'bossy' tone in this message is not meant offensively or arrogantly in any way and I hope you will forgive me. I just want it all to go smoothly and for it to be a very positive experience for us.

Many thanks,

Anya

Some tips and advice about what to bring and what not to bring to the demonstration:

A couple of reports about the demonstration at the Home Office, today, in support of Gary McKinnon, who is facing extradition to the USA:

Press Association (via The Guardian): Hacker 'distraught' at extradition

A "citizen journalist", who lives across the road from the Home Office has uploaded a short video clip to the CNN iReport website: SOLO - Gary McKinnon protest at the British Home Office in London (Flash video, 40 seconds)

Update 3rd September:

Marc Vallée, one of the photo journalists who covered the demonstration, has published some good photos and slideshows of the event on his blog: Gary McKinnon Protest - (02.09.08)

Update: 13th September

A half hour video entitled Gary McKinnon documentary for Edge TV is now available on MySpace TV (Flash required). This documentary in the series "Anarchy on the Airwaves " has interviews by presenter Maz with Lucy, Bruce and Noel , as well as general footage of the demonstration at the Home Office.

Update 17th September:

The video documentary above is now no longer availale on MySpace TV (why ?) and has been uploaded to Google:- Gary McKinnon - The greatest computer hacker of all time? - Anarchy on the airwaves presents a new documentary for Edge TV

There will be a peaceful demonstration in support of Gary McKinnon, at the Home Office in Marsham Street, London, this coming Tuesday 2nd September 2008, at 4pm.

Time:
4pm, Tuesday 2nd September 2008

Location:
Home Office main entrance, Peel Building (between the defensive / ornamental moats ponds) , Marsham Street, Westminster, London - see this location map

Nearest Tube stations:
Westminster or St. James Park - see the Transport for London website for journey planning details.

Buses:
London Bus Route 88 Clapham Common - Vauxhall - Westminster - Oxford Circus - Camden Town, stops directly outside the Home Office main entrance in Marsham Street, supposedly every 7 or 8 minutes.

Contact details:
email us here at info@Freegary.org.uk. If you are IT security conscious, and technically capable, then you can make use of our PGP Public encryption key.

We will pass on your messages to the demonstration organisers, or try to answer your queries ourselves.

Serious Organised Crime Act 2005 section 132 - 138 Designated Area

Many people in the UK and the rest of the world might be surprised at the extent of the restrictions on the fundamental human rights of free speech, freedom of assembly and freedom to protest politically, which have been imposed in an excessively large Designated Area around the Houses of Parliament in central London.

The Home Office in Marsham Street is, sneakily, just within this Designated Area around Parliament Square, covered by sections 132 to 138 of the Serious Organised Crime and Police Act 2005.

This controversial legislation, may well be repealed, sometime next year, but it is still the law right now: