The man who died during last week’s G20 protests was “assaulted” by riot police shortly before he suffered a heart attack, according to witness statements received by the Independent Police Complaints Commission.
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Posted on April 5th, 2009 at 12:51pm under Crime and punishment
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Hmm. If he was Joe Public on his way home and was assaulted by police, that’s certainly consistent with having a sudden heart attack. It’s not the sort of thing you’d be expecting.
The Police can get away with shooting a naked, unarmed and totally innocent man dead in his own home so I don’t see clubbing a man to death in the street as a problem for them.
Having watched the video on the site I know what side I’m on and it’s not the ones with dreadlocks and bad slogans.
Didn’t realise the police were allowed to grow their hair so long Danny boy.
On a more serious note the chap that died was a middle aged local and there’s been no mention of him being in possession of either a slogan or a set of dreadlocks.
Your comment seems to imply acceptance of the eye witness reports as to the possible cause of this chaps death. In which case I suspect I’d not be the only one amongst the population who would conclude you need serious therapy in order to locate a moral compass.
It’s not a matter of “whose side you are on” – this is not a school playground issue to be dealt with in such simplistic us and them terms. You really do need to get some help to deal with your obvious problem with anyone who you personally disapprove of.
Regards.
Dave Hansell
Come on, Dave – I don’t want remarks about people’s mental health in the comments on this blog. Daniel’s a big boy and can take it as well as dish it so feel free to have at it, the pair of you. But I don’t like that particular rhetorical device in any of its manifestations.
Ta.
To clarify, I’m not an idiot, I’d much prefer it if no one died at events like these, my comment was not relating to that death, it was relating to the protesters, their actions, behaviour and their take on the whole sorry mess we find ourselves in, which is simplistic at best and at worst criminally negligent.
After watching the video, I felt strongly that the protesters came out of it, for me, looking worse and yesm it is about sides, they have to bring people to their side of the argument and the act of even a few of them ruin the efforts of the many to communicate.
Having said that, I’m not sure much of what they communicate is very well thought out, riddled with unworkable ideas and hypocrisy.
Also, I tire of finger pointing at the police and the difficult job they have but still, they make for easy and popular targets for those that prefer there politics easy and popular.
Is it really easier and more popular to criticise the police than the protestors? Somebody wants to tell the popular press.
It is in the cirles that frequent this blog, mainstream press less so, of course but sometimes I dislike the hobby horses that are mounted by some. That’s all.
When the protesters are being employed by my government, paid with my money, and granted the power to arrest me, I’ll start being as concerned about their behaviour as I am about that of the police.
Indeed, but it has to be acknowledged that policing is bloody hard? And this is from someone who attends protests, although not this one and used to be a pain in the arse with the police all the time.
OPEN LETTER TO THE HOME SECRETARY AND THE COMMISSIONER OF THE METROPOLITAN POLICE
On April 23rd 1979 at a demonstration against the presence of the far right National Front in Southall a friend of mine, Blair Peach, was struck over the head by an, as yet, still unidentified member of the Special Patrol Group and died the next day from injuries sustained from the blow.
A subsequent enquiry into the events of that day by Commander Cass has never been released in full but we are able to say that a number of things have been established. When the lockers of three of the named officers were opened and the home of another was searched the following items were found.
PC White: crowbar, small metal cosh, whip handle, whip, brass handle.
PC Woodcock: US type truncheon, two knives.
Inspector Hopkins: wooden truncheon.
PC Bint’s house revealed bayonets, swords, a cosh and Nazi memorabilia.
All of these things, but especially the Nazi memorabilia found in the home of PC Bint, should have given rise to the greatest of concern about the political orientation of at least some of the members of the SPG. The investigation conducted by Commander Cass at the time has never been made fully public but it believed that he recommended that at least six officers should have been prosecuted for, amongst other things, murder and conspiracy to pervert the course of justice.
Although an early day motion was signed shortly in 1980 by nearly 150 MPs demanding a public enquiry, none was ever conducted. One of the MPs who signed was Jack Straw who, when he became Home Secretary, refused to conduct the very investigation he had asked for nearly two decades earlier.
Various ruses have been used by the Metropolitan Police over the years to prevent the publication of the report. The latest is a refusal under the Freedom of Information Act on the grounds that it ” would affect the immediate family and friends of Blair Peach, owing to the circumstances of the death and the information contained within the report”. As far as is known, the family has never been consulted about this and someone has taken the decision on their behalf.
It is highly unlikely that, had the inquest taken place today, the jury would have returned a verdict of misadventure. A number of factors effecting the original decision of death by misadventure would not have applied. The press and the political establishment almost uniformly blamed the anti fascists for the violence. Press cuttings of the time describe a race riot which it most certainly was not. It was a riot by police officers, which could have been prevented by the Metropolitan Police asking the Home Secretary to ban the march.
The Met themselves must take a great deal of responsibility for the events, not only of that day, but for several years of provocative National Front matches, many of them through areas with high proportions of ethnic minorities, with easily predictable results: vilence, arrests and convictions, damage to property and finally death.
There is no longer any excuse for the Cass report not to be released in full and the longer it is not, the more it looks as if the police are covering up another shameful page in their history. This is not an exercise in retribution or revenge, simply an attempt to get justice for Blair and to establish the fact that people have right to protest peacefully without the risk of injury or death from those whose job it is to preserve the conditions for peaceful protest.
I look forward to hearing from you both.
The Friends of Blair Peach
29 St Agnes Close
London E9 7HS
E-mail southall79@googlemail.com
Indeed: all the policemen’s blogs seemed to have been anticipating (and wanting) the G20 protests to get violent – or that’s the impression I got from the badly-spelled bumfroth written about “soap dodgers” (yawn), “swampies” (how old is that reference?) and, er, the unemployed (because, of course, the whole credit-crunchy financiapocalypse has nothing at all to do with people having no jobs). So, the police’s politics have everything to do with their behaviour. These arseholes believe they are “lions led by donkeys”. Rats led by gnats is far more apposite.
Incidentally, if you search for “socialist policeman” (with quotes) in Google UK, the only site returned is a porn site of dubious veracity. I’m not sure if there is a message in that…
Good news – Police Complaints Commission is to have an inquiry into the death of Ian Tomlinson.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7986192.stm
The bad news – ‘City of London Police will carry out the inquiry on behalf of the watchdog.’
In other news: Alex Ferguson appointed as referee for Manchester United’s FA Cup semi-final against Everton.
The Guardian has video footage.
It doesn’t look very clever for the Met.
You can turn your back on a person but never turn your back on a Metropolitan policeman, especially when its waving a 2 foot baton in your eye.
Hmmm. I’m not sure I’d concur with the idea of anger management being placed in that category Justin.
We are talking about someone dying in very tragic circumstances – circumstances in which eye witnesses have made statements regarding a breakdown in group and individual discipline on the part of some uniformed civilian police which may have indirectly or even directly been the cause if proven.
In such a context, to talk in simplistic terms of whose side you are on would seem somewhat school yardish in adolescents and bad taste amongst adults, certainly in the way I was brought up. To be fair, one or two other more recent comments are in danger of going down this route. In that regard chucking across a direct statement about bad taste towards someone is something I’m loathe to do because it seems far worse that suggesting they deal with whatever chip may be on their shoulder.
When I did my time in the forces over 35 years back we were taught that you were a soldier first and tradesman second. Following the same thread, whatever your background you are a human being first and foremost. If that sounds old fashioned I make no apologies. There are other times and other threads for those sort of debates, but they are certainly not appropriate here where the issue is someone who may not even have been involved has lost their life in such a fashion.
Regards
Dave Hansell
This poster I made has a photo taken somewhen and somewhere during the G-20 Convention and the related protests.
Does anyone have any idea of where or when? I’m curious, and would like to give proper credit, if possible.
Dave Hansell, it was not about ‘a breakdown in group and individual discipline on the part of some uniformed civilian police’.
Look at the footage, note, as Justin points out, the casualness. Look how the colleagues are completely unsurprised.
Do you think this is the only time that officer behaved like that? Do you think the colleagues didn’t do the same thing? When these officers reached the crowd, what do you think they did?
Then look at the climate camp film.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DlJRi7YR1bU
What sort of thing do you think is being said to the group of officers being briefed at the start of the film?
Every single officer is behaving like that. It is not them acting on private motivations or a sudden breakdown of order. This was a common tactic used throughout the day in numerous places. It has been used repeatedly at numerous protests.
This is not a few rogue officers, it is strategy. The officers concerned should certainly be prosecuted, but it would be a travesty if they took the fall for the whole thing. They were just obeying orders.
I would love to believe they were ‘human beings first’. But I have been worn down by seeing literally hundreds of occasions where they assault people with impunity like this. They are authority first, human beings second.