Shut Down H&K at Sumac Garden Party

The campaign against arms manufacturer Heckler & Koch was represented at a Garden Party at Nottingham’s Sumac Centre on Sunday. The Garden Party was organised by Eastside Climate Action to raise funds for their presence at this year’s Climate Camp. It featured live bands & DJs, food & drink, games and stalls.

The Shut Down H&K campaign ran a stall to raise awareness and funds. Visitors were invited to partake in a macabre competition: guess the number of people killed by H&K weapons every week (represented by kidney beans in a glass jar). 40 people entered the competition, and guesses ranged from 100 to 3000! The answer, guessed correctly by Rhiannon, was 720, based on an estimate of one person killed every 14 minutes (from DAKS – the German Action Network to Stop Small Arms).

The event was a great success, both for Eastside Climate Action and for Shut Down H&K. There are more pictures on Indymedia, 1, 2 & 3.

Water pistol demo at Heckler & Koch

July’s monthly demo against arms company Heckler & Koch had a theme: To represent H&K’s products, protesters brought guns to the picket. There were several shootings, and protesters even staged an “execution” by firing squad!

Of course these guns were super-soakers, and the victims suffered nothing worse than soggy clothes. But beside the fun there was a serious message: The victims of Heckler & Koch’s guns don’t get away so lightly. Victims such as the villagers in Kosovo massacred by Serbian police armed with H&K submachine guns. Victims such as the prisoners in Thailand tied to a cross and executed with a H&K machine gun.

Despite the secrecy that surrounds Heckler & Koch, the Shut Down H&K campaign continues to uncover more information about the dodgy regimes that buy these weapons, and the abuses being carried out with them. At July’s demonstration, the charges against H&K were read out over a megaphone while protesters handed out leaflets to passers by. Meanwhile a sound system provided music, and Veggies catering campaign provided vegan food so good that even the police were asking for some!

For more words and pictures, see Tash’s write-up on Indymedia.