Student fees protester: I'm on riot wanted list. That's funny

1/3
Felix Allen12 April 2012

A suspected rioter wanted for questioning over violence during the Parliament Square student protests today said he finds it "pretty funny".

Ethan Race, 20, an award-winning film-maker who was given a £3,000 bursary by the BBC, was among suspects pictured in a police line-up this week.

He is one of at least seven wanted for questioning over the disorder at the tuition fees protest on December 9.

Speaking to the Standard, Mr Race, 20, a Middlesex University film student, said he was amused that police wanted to talk to him, describing himself as a peace-loving Buddhist.

Despite facing arrest and possible imprisonment, he made light of his involvement in his Facebook postings, even tagging himself in television news footage of the riot.

He also uploaded a photo of himself holding the Evening Standard's report of the police appeal on Monday, although the image has since been deleted from his page. "I just thought it was really funny and wanted to share it with everyone else," he said.

Mr Race insisted he would be happy to speak to the police. "I didn't do anything illegal. I just think the whole thing is pretty funny. It looks like I'm some terrible rioter.

"I am a strong idealist and I don't believe in violence, but when there is violence I want to be there on the front line taking a beating for my cause."

At 17 he won the BBC Blast Future Film competition for promising young film-makers in 2008.

His black-and-white short film Conflict, made when he was 15, was shown at the British Film Institute on the South Bank and was described by judges as "a chilling piece... exploring evil, obsession and mental conflict". He used the BBC's bursary money to shoot his fourth film, Rapture, which was shown on BBC2 last year, and is now in his final year studying film at Middlesex's Barnet campus.

Mr Race said he had been to many animal rights and climate change protests but had never been arrested.

He said he found himself pushed to the front line after a police horse charge near Parliament Square, where officers "lashed out" at him several times with batons. "I was perfectly happy with that," he said. "I feel I need to be at the front to take their s**t. I like to be antagonistic towards them because I disagree with the fascistic system by which the police are managed.

"Although I might have been pushing back at them when they were pushing me, I wasn't doing anything violent."

He said one officer gave him a warning for "being cheeky" and told him to go home for his own safety. He was "surprised" to see his photo in the Met's wanted list while reading the Standard on the train to his family home in Duns, Scotland, for Christmas.

A Scotland Yard spokesman confirmed a man has arranged to attend a London police station early in the new year.

A group of 10 students occupying Kent University have vowed to miss Christmas Day to continue their tuition fees protest. Occupations at UCL and LSE have ended.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in