from Oct. 22 Vietnam Ad Hoc Committee - Oct. 23 Events which took place in Grosvenor Square yesterday have received a great deal of publicity. Unfortunately this has led to a complete absence of publicity about the meeting which took place at Trafalgar Square beforehand. As a result over emphasis has been made on the fact that "peace demonstrators" reacted to police provocation. le The Trafalgar Square meeting and subsequent 10,000 strong march was organised by the October 22nd Vietnam Ad Hoc Committee on the initiative of the Vietnam Solidarity Campaign. As its name suggests, the policy of the Vietnam Solidarity Campaign is full support for the National Liberation Front and the Democratic Republic of Vietnam and their fight against U.S. aggression. 2. All the speakers in Trafalgar Square, including the representatives of the Bertrand Russell Peace Foundation, The Week, Universal Coloured Peoples Association, V.S.C., Labour Worker, and the American Protest Movement made it quite clear that although our aim is peace in Vietnam this peace cannot be obtained as long as the U.S. and its allied remain in that country. The victory of the Vietnamese people is an essential pre-requisite to peace in Vietnam. Therefore, the demonstration was not one merely protesting against American aggression but the vast majority were also demonstrating for the victory of the Vietnamese Revolution, 3. The wide-spread police brutality against demonstrators in the United States was a factor in so many people demonstrating in London in solidarity, not only with the Vietnamese but also with the American anti-war movement. 4. In Grosvenor Square there was a complete mis-handling of the situation by the police. Permission had been received for the March to enter the Square and stop while the delegation presentéd’a’ tetter to the Embassy. A police barrier at the entrance to the Square tried to thin down the March to a line 3 or 4 wide. This caused a bottleneck which broke when the demonstrators surged onto the grass area where they reassembled. The mounted police then provoked the demonstrators by riding their horses through this essentially static groupe This, plus the use of dogs, resulted in a perfectly predictable reaction and needless injury to both demonstrators and police.
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