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Shoreditch Cereal Killer Cafe targeted by anti-gentrification protesters Shoreditch Cereal Killer Cafe targeted by anti-gentrification protesters
(about 1 hour later)
The owners of a cereal cafe in east London have described their terror at being targeted by a group of anti-gentrification protesters who daubed the word “scum” on the cafe’s window. Hundreds of protesters attacked a cereal cafe in east London on Saturday night, daubing the word “scum” on the shop window and setting fire to an effigy of a police officer.
Alan and Gary Keery, who own Cereal Killer Cafe in Shoreditch – which has been seen by some as a symbol of inequality in east London – described how an angry mob with torches and pigs’ heads gathered outside their premises on Saturday evening. Riot police were called in to defend the Cereal Killer Cafe in Shoreditch after it was targeted by a large crowd of anti-gentrification activists carrying pigs’ heads and torches.
The owners of the cafe, which has been seen by some as a symbol of inequality in east London, said on Sunday that the attack left customers including children “terrified for their lives”.
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Footage of the attack filmed from inside the shop and obtained by the Guardian shows a large group of masked protesters shouting outside the shopfront. One man daubs graffiti on the window while another is seen holding a burning stick. Gary Keery, 33, who founded the cafe with his twin brother, Alan, said: “It’s senseless violence, isn’t it? We’ve had some letters through the letterbox saying ‘die hipsters’ and stuff but nothing to this extreme. It just doesn’t make sense.” Footage of the attack filmed from inside the shop and obtained by the Guardian shows masked protesters shouting outside the shopfront. One man daubs graffiti on the window while another is seen holding a burning stick.
The Metropolitan police said one of their officers had suffered an injury to his face as a result of a bottle thrown during the disorder, caused by a “criminal element within a group of several hundred people” who had thrown missiles and attacked shops on Brick Lane.
Tonight we were attacked with paint and fire by an angry mob of 200. Riot police are on the scene. pic.twitter.com/GPXLmyMmuNTonight we were attacked with paint and fire by an angry mob of 200. Riot police are on the scene. pic.twitter.com/GPXLmyMmuN
Police said one officer had suffered a minor facial injury as a result of a flying bottle and that one person had been arrested on suspicion of causing criminal damage during the protests, which took place over a large area of the E2 postcode. One protester who was at the demonstration said the Cereal Killer Cafe was targeted as a “symbol of gentrification”, although he said a nearby estate agent, Marsh & Parsons, was also attacked. The cafe, which opened in December, was open as usual on Sunday morning, with queues of customers paying up to £4.40 for a bowl of cereal.
Gary told the Guardian on Sunday morning: “It’s senseless violence, isn’t it? We’ve had some letters through the letterbox saying ‘die hipsters’ and stuff but nothing to this extreme. It just doesn’t make sense. According to Twitter it was a 1,000-strong crowd that were walking around. Gary Keery said customers – including children – barricaded the cafe doors when the disturbance started but then had to be moved downstairs to safety. At one point the protesters managed to break into the small shop and threw a smoke bomb and furniture inside the doorway, he said. Other masked figures threw red paint and cereal at the shop windows.
“It was just us that was targeted – it wasn’t as if they were walking past and just happened to stumble upon us. They were deliberately coming here, throwing cereal and shouting ‘gentrification’, ‘anarchy’.” “If they really believe in the protest, why are they covering their face while they’re doing it? Why are they wearing pig masks?” Gary said. “It’s not just the fact that someone threw paint on the windows, there’s more of a deep-rooted issue that needs to be looked at. You need to look at why they’re attacking us.”
Gary described how customers barricaded the cafe door closed when the disturbance started, but they then had to be moved downstairs for their own safety. The cereal-only cafe has sparked controversy since its opening. The Keery brothers were forced to defend their prices after a Channel 4 News interviewer asked whether local people could afford £3.20 for a bowl of cereal.
When police cleared the protesters, staff took shelter in the Dark Sugars Chocolates store next door. “These staff are just here to work. There’s customers in and they’re terrified for their lives,” he said.
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Gary said the protesters managed to break into the cafe, throwing a smoke or paint bomb into the hallway and hurling cereal and furniture inside the shop. “If they really believe in the protest, why are they covering their face while they’re doing it? Why are they wearing pig masks?
“It’s not just the fact that someone threw paint on the windows, there’s more of a deep-rooted issue that needs to be looked at. You need to look at why they’re attacking us.”
The cereal cafe has sparked controversy since its opening in December last year. The Keery brothers were forced to defend their prices after a Channel 4 News interviewer asked whether local people could afford £3.20 for a bowl of cereal.
Gary dismissed the suggestion that his business had become a symbol of east London gentrification. “There’s another Pret at the top of the street here and that wasn’t targeted. We’re an independent business, we’ve got two shops, we’ve only been open months,” he said.Gary dismissed the suggestion that his business had become a symbol of east London gentrification. “There’s another Pret at the top of the street here and that wasn’t targeted. We’re an independent business, we’ve got two shops, we’ve only been open months,” he said.
“If you want to talk about gentrification and different classes, you don’t go about attacking independent businesses who are putting their whole life on the line to open a business, you go to the conglomerates and big companies.”“If you want to talk about gentrification and different classes, you don’t go about attacking independent businesses who are putting their whole life on the line to open a business, you go to the conglomerates and big companies.”
The protest was advertised on Facebook as the third Fuck Parade, and was apparently organised by the anarchist group Class War. The event page stated: “Our communities are being ripped apart – by Russian oligarchs, Saudi sheiks, Israeli scumbag property developers, Texan oil-money twats and our own home-grown Eton toffs. Local authorities are coining it in, in a short-sighted race for cash by ‘regenerating’ social housing.
Whatever happened in Shoreditch tonight is making my life exceedingly difficult pic.twitter.com/g2jXaEVpJuWhatever happened in Shoreditch tonight is making my life exceedingly difficult pic.twitter.com/g2jXaEVpJu
On its website, the cafe is described as “the UK’s first speciality cereal cafe”. The attack appeared to have no effect on customer numbers, as a long queue of hungry punters stretched out on to Brick Lane on Sunday morning. “We don’t want luxury flats that no one can afford, we want genuinely affordable housing. We don’t want pop-up gin bars or brioche buns, we want community.” The Fuck Parade organisers had not responded to requests for comment at the time of publication.
Opposite the cafe, many of the stallholders on the street’s bustling Sunday market had not noticed the red paint daubed over the shop front. One stallholder thought the Cereal Cafe’s owners had done it themselves as a Halloween decoration. Esther Planas Balduz, 55, an artist who attended the protest after hearing about it on Facebook, said she supported the cause because she was evicted from her home of seven years when her rent doubled last year.
Another was less than sympathetic when told that the shop had come under siege. “In a way they kind of bring this on themselves. They thrive on this. They need this controversy otherwise nobody would come,” she said, declining to be named. “I’ve lived in Shoreditch for 17 years and it’s appalling what’s been going on. Its our fault, artists like me go to these kind of areas, then the architects follow, the developers, the hipsters etc,” Balduz said. “The problem is social cleansing. There are no protections for us. The law does not protect us, only the greedy landowners.”
Her neighbour, selling books and antiques, said she believed the attack was an elaborate PR stunt by the Cereal Cafe, which she said had polarised the community.
“Lots of my customers don’t like the shop,” she said. “If they want to start charging £3 for water and people want to pay it – it’s not my cup of tea. You have to be brainless maybe but people pay it.”
Anti-gentrification tonight in Shoreditch #FuckParade #classwar pic.twitter.com/qK9IWnh5kpAnti-gentrification tonight in Shoreditch #FuckParade #classwar pic.twitter.com/qK9IWnh5kp
Saturday’s protest was advertised on Facebook as the third “Fuck Parade”, and was apparently organised by the anarchist group Class War. The event page stated: “Our communities are being ripped apart – by Russian oligarchs, Saudi sheiks [sic], Israeli scumbag property developers, Texan oil-money twats and our own home-grown Eton toffs. Local authorities are coining it in, in a short-sighted race for cash by ‘regenerating’ social housing. Balduz said the protest seemed “more like a punk carnival” and hoped it would open up debate on the issue of gentrification. “Even if a few became a bit aggressive, it was really less aggressive than the masses of drunks I have to cope with every weekend in the area,” she said.
“We don’t want luxury flats that no one can afford, we want genuinely affordable housing. We don’t want pop-up gin bars or brioche buns, we want community.” Another protester, who declined to be named, conceded that there were “more justifiable targets” than a small independent business, but played down the scale of the attack.
Esther Planas Balduz, 55, said she attended the protest after hearing about it on Facebook. She said she supported the cause because she was evicted from her home of seven years when her rent doubled last year.
She added: “I’ve lived in Shoreditch for 17 years and its appalling what’s been going on. Its our fault, artists like me go to these kind of areas, then the architects follow, the developers, the hipsters etc. The problem is social cleansing. There are no protections for us. The law does not protect us, only the greedy land owners.”Balduz said the protest seemed “more lke a punk carnival” and hoped it would open up debate on the issue of gentrification. “Even if a few became a bit aggressive, it was really less aggressive than the masses of drunks I have to cope with every weekend in the area,” she said.
A Twitter account that appeared to be live-tweeting the protest shared a picture of the cafe with the words: “Cereal cafe. £5 for cereal when people are starving. Fuck gentrification. Fuck cutesy boutiques and coffee shops. Homes for everyone.”
Due to an impromptu demo, Old Street Roundabout is currently blocked. Expect delays on all approaches. pic.twitter.com/qyRszSWJ68Due to an impromptu demo, Old Street Roundabout is currently blocked. Expect delays on all approaches. pic.twitter.com/qyRszSWJ68
Scotland Yard said it had arrested one person in relation to the incident. In a statement, the Met said: “On Saturday 26 September, police officers dealt with disorder arising from a pre-planned event in the Shoreditch area.
“From around 8pm, a criminal element within a group of several hundred people threw missiles and caused criminal damage to shops and other businesses in and around Brick Lane, E2. The group continued to move around the Shoreditch and Brick Lane area until around 12.30am on Sunday 27 September.“One officer suffered a minor injury to his face as a result of a bottle thrown. One person has been arrested on suspicion of criminal damage.”