Not sure if you guys have been following this over the last week or so as apparently the mainstream media haven’t really been reporting on it, but there’s been a major backlash by some members of society against proposed 15 minute cities and Low Traffic Neighbourhood (LTNs) and this all came to a head with a massive protest in Oxford over the weekend.
Featured Image VIA
There are a load of videos floating around the internet from the event that makes it look like it was absolutely mental. Not only were there loads more people than I think anyone expected marching and chanting and protesting – all perfectly fine – but also a bunch of masked ANTIFA members showed up to counter protest against them and a few of them ended up getting arrested.
There also seems some confusion about what the actual protest was about in the first place as a bunch of right wing racists were meant to be there but didn’t seem to show up, so it ended up looking kind of weird with these masked antifascists protesting against Nazism and screaming about that. Also, the main guy interviewing people on the ground seems to be doing it in a sort of VICE documentary way where’s he’s asking them what they’re doing it but shooting it and cutting it so that he makes them look like idiots, but take a look at all of the clips below and see if you think they’ve got anything useful to say.
Here’s a guy explaining why he’s against 15 minute cities and protesting on Saturday:
— Tom Seaward (@t_seaward) February 18, 2023
Here’s a 12 year old girl speaking and telling us why she’s against 15 minute cities. The anti 15 minute city coalition’s very own Greta Thunberg!
A 12-year-old girl from Oxford, England, explains what the “15-Minute City” means to her life. listen!!!! 👂👂👇👇👇👇👇💥💥 pic.twitter.com/glZllDdkim
— vegastar (@vegastarr) February 19, 2023
Here’s just some general footage of the protest/march:
OXFORD – People against 15 minute cities, they didn’t vote for NET ZERO policies that will control their lives.
The council can ignore them but it the end the people will decide!
We stand with you Oxford 🔥
— Bernie’s Tweets (@BernieSpofforth) February 18, 2023
Here’s one where a guy admits to being a white nationalist but says that race doesn’t have anything to do with why he’s protesting today:
Joe Marsh of Patriotic Alternative responds to the criticism of him. @TheOxfordMail pic.twitter.com/1nOBukNRO9
— Tom Seaward (@t_seaward) February 18, 2023
Here are some ‘clear members of the far right’ attending the protest:
Look at all the extreme far right racists protesting against the 15 minute city scheme in Oxford today. pic.twitter.com/5p14bJJirk
— Mark (@markmaycot) February 19, 2023
Don’t forget the far left though, who have also shown up in balaclavas to hide their faces and counter protest shout at everyone and call them fascists/Nazis:
Oxford: gang of masked blackshirts screams “Nazis!” – at a group protesting *against* “15 minute city” plans, an authoritarian idea that could fine citizens £70 for driving out of their area 🤡🌎pic.twitter.com/FAKI2qy8z4
— Martin Daubney 🇬🇧 (@MartinDaubney) February 18, 2023
And here’s some more of the counter protesters being kettled and arrested:
On Ship St the police have kettled another group of counter demonstrators. @TheOxfordMail pic.twitter.com/wGK4MofpGR
— Tom Seaward (@t_seaward) February 18, 2023
Of course Laurence Fox showed up:
. @LozzaFox interviewed by the BBC at Oxford’s big protest against ’15 minute cities’. pic.twitter.com/8J0tGP5WWp
— Janey (@_Janey_J) February 18, 2023
And a guy talking about how he’s very worried that these guys have shown up:
This man is very concerned about the message coming from the counter protest pic.twitter.com/DGPRSximOH
— Tom Seaward (@t_seaward) February 18, 2023
Here’s a guy who seems quite confused about everything:
The view from a Banbury man who’s headed for the Broad St protest pic.twitter.com/P8UlaRD8rk
— Tom Seaward (@t_seaward) February 18, 2023
— Tom Seaward (@t_seaward) February 18, 2023
15 minute lockdowns? Has anyone ever said that about any of this? Paying taxes? Not being allowed to go to nature? Looking on Google? There’s a lot going on with that guy isn’t there? And to be honest with everyone featured in those little snippets too, although most of them are at least a bit more articulate than him.
Anyway, so I wasn’t there by any means but what I can see from this is that there are definitely some people annoyed about 15 minute cities and Low Traffic Neighbourhoods and how this might affect their lives. However, these vary from people who are just frustrated by them because of fines and not being about to drive their cars all the time to people that think they’re the next stage of government/WEF control heading to agenda 2030.
So it seems like there might have been a few conspiracy nutjobs attending, but from all the footage it doesn’t seem like there were actually any far right racists linking 15 minute cities to their racist agendas and it was actually the far left that come off looking weirder and more violent/aggressive from the videos that has actually been released, despite what the talk online before the event was all about. Really strange that they felt the need to wear masks and balaclavas as that immediately brought a much scarier vibe to the event. Not really sure how an event like this has been so politicised but it’s kinda a wonder that nobody there was hurt or injured.
Here’s an old man who kinda quickly summarises why the event was such a mess and the concerns beforehand:
Ian McKendrick of Oxford Stand Up to Racism pic.twitter.com/XKcoUtmHKg
— Tom Seaward (@t_seaward) February 18, 2023
Kind makes sense there doesn’t he? Except that it doesn’t look like anyone racist actually showed up, at least in a capacity where they made their views overtly clear in the way they were protesting. Very weird event basically.
As for 15 minute cities, I’m not really sure what to make of them myself. I kinda just thought it was a cool idea to reduce pollution and encourage people to walk everywhere as everything they needed would be nearby and didn’t really. think of all these dystopian overtones that all these people are talking about. I don’t really think that there’s been any mention of people not being allowed to leave the cities and being trapped in them forever as prisoners essentially has there?
Of course, that’s exactly what THEY want me to think though, so it seems like I may have fallen into their trap. Perhaps protests like these will convince me of that before it’s too late, but until I see a bit more evidence of all these worries I think I’ll just stay out of it.
I don’t even have a car and pretty much walk everywhere now anyway, so maybe I’m already converted/part of the problem? Please don’t @ me.
For more of the same, check out when Extinction Rebellion protesters glued themselves to Speaker’s Chair. Well done.
