OK KO’d - Cafe Evicted

The Manchester OKasional cafe was illegally evicted at the beginning of November. Builders and police kicked in the shopfront window to gain access before nicking all the occupants.

The OKasional Cafe collective have been squatting empty buildings for the past four years and the current eviction is the most violent and heavy handed since the retaking of the Hacienda in 2000.

All those arrested were charged with stealing electricity, despite the collective having contacted the electricity company.

It has been conjectured that the raid could have been timed to clear the building (which had been acting as an anti-war info shop and is located opposite the centotaph and peace gardens) before the major peace demo in the city the following weekend.