Causing a ruckus: Protest groups

Sam Marsden

The Clandestine Insurgent Rebel Clown Army Commonly known as the Clowns, members aim to use humour to “give resistance a funny face” by dressing up in circus costumes and wearing face paint.

The Clowns plan to disrupt the 2005 summit with their Operation HAHAHAA (Helping Authorities House Arrest Half-witted Authoritarian Androids), which aims to keep the G8 leaders penned in at Gleneagles.

Black Bloc

A black bloc is a collection of anarchists, often wearing black clothes and face masks, who organise to resist police. A tactic used for specific protests rather than a formal group, it grew out of militant movements in Germany in the 1980s.

Dissent!

Dissent! was formed in autumn 2003 by campaigners previously involved in the environmental, anti-war and anti capitalist movements. It is a loosely organised network co-ordinating most of the G8 protest groups.

The Wombles

A group of anarchists formed the Wombles in 2000 after meeting at protests against that year’s IMF and World Bank summit in Prague. They describe themselves as a “collective of anarchists, anti-authoritarians and libertarians“. They were reportedly involved in the London May Day riots in 2001, in which shops were damaged and protesters and police officers injured.

People’s Golfing Association

A group of anarchists who plan to disrupt the G8 summit with a game of “golf”. The eight “holes”, each named after one of the G8 leaders, are located on the roads leading to the summit venue and around hotels where delegates will be staying.