Seems clear to me that this was a victim of the 'kettling' policy. They did not want to walk around the guy because they wanted him contained within the cordon of which that loose group of policemen was clearly a part.
Since the policy is called 'kettling', one wonders why nobody in the Met management has given some thought to what happens when pressure builds up inside a vessel...kettles explode if they aren't allowed to vent.
I have seen the new footage from a different angle now, but I hadn't when I made my first post.
The original footage, I think, looks a lot more innocent than the new one with the baton across the back of the legs.
Which just goes to show you that footage can be misleading. I suspect hundreds of innocent protesters, who were in the thick of it, but not being aggressive were being pushed about by the police that day. The only reason this one is getting so much publicity is because he died after the attack.
I'm not saying it's right for the police to get heavy handed with innocent people, but unless it's proven that Ian died as a direct result of being attacked then manslaughter is nonsense.
Thanks, Brian. That one was up earlier. I was hoping for video evidence of the earlier attack, witnessed at 7.15. It was witnessed, but what is clear from this is that video evidence carries more weight with officials than witness statements.
It's also clear from this that any scruffy bugger can be mistaken for a protester. I'll be staying well clear of any areas, then!!!!
I said some, not all, obviously.
I remember when they would go out beating up punks in London. Maybe they are better now?
If he is TA, wouldn't he be trained more in an army role, than dealing with civilians? Nick C, do you know?[That's what i was thinking.Originally Posted by DoubleTrouble
Long haired layabouts? Surely not.
Last edited by Astro; 9th-April-2009 at 05:30 PM.
Witnesses are notoriously unreliable. The "fog" is already forming over this investigation. It now appears that there may have been a previous alleged incident. Even if it is thought that trauma precipitated the heart attack it may be unclear which trauma.
They know where you live ...It's also clear from this that any scruffy bugger can be mistaken for a protester. I'll be staying well clear of any areas, then!!!!
They know where I live ...
I think you've made a good point there Astro.
The police must know that Big Brother was watching and that most of the protesters would have been filming them specifically to find something to sell to the papers to get their point across about police brutality, etc. Which makes me think that the policeman who attacked Ian didn't think he was doing anything wrong. In which case, you wonder what their instructions were from his superiors.
It's all to easy to blame everything on this one guy who whacked a "dead man walking" who may have been on the verge of dropping down dead anyway. If you prosecute him, you gotta prosecute most of the police that were there that day, who were doing the same thing to lots of other people who luckily didn't die a few minutes later.
Of course stress is not an excuse for assault, I never said it was - I did say that it was an excuse for error. The whole demonstration event had been built up beforehand by the media and the demo organisers and the police such that human errors were likely, and it is probable that this was one of many such errors which went horribly wrong.
What I did say in the same post, which you may have missed, was:
There were actually 4 different demos in different areas of London all happening at the same time.
1. The one where Ian died were the finance protesters.
2. Stop The War protesters
3. Palastine protesters
4. Climate protesters. (The one I wanted to join).
Plus the G20 summit at the EXCEL centre.
I encounter the climate protesters on most days:
"Terrible rain today......."
"It's so windy......"
"Too hot for me mate...."
A harmless game* for the most part.
You can join in if you want at any time............and usually you won't get killed by a police office - however with the new government 'happiness tsar' and thought police, don't bank on it.
*Technically a 'pastime' as Eric Berne would put it - a variant of 'Ain't it awful'. See http://www.roseman121.btinternet.co.uk/utopia/apt24.htm
All down to the vagaries of the British weather. Is this why we are such social creatures - there's always the weather to fall back on when we are stumped for something to say?
But there may not be for very much longer.
Some are warning that it's no longer if, but when we will be unable to survive on this planet.
The planet doesn't care what we do, it's us who will suffer.
The Age of Stupid, is this apt?
And now some more footage has turned up showing a policeman back-handing a very small woman, when she complains he gets out his baton and whacks her behind the knees.
And we have 114 people arrested for planning a protest outside a coal-fired generating plant, and the school that owns the building where they were planning their jaunt is having to replace a whole load of doors etc which were destroyed by the police when they went in to make the arrests. All 114 have now been bailed - they must have been a dangerous bunch, right?
I'm wondering when it was that I went to sleep and woke up in a fascist state. (Who said 1997? Own up at the back there!)
And again, it's apparent that without the footage, nothing would have been done, despite lots of police who saw what happened (and from the footage, some were not particularly happy about it).
Not for nothing is the original phrase "One Bad Apple Spoils the Bunch"...
I dont think for a minute this sort of thing never used to go on, and as you say, its not ALL the police that partake in a bit of needless assault. At least now we are in an era where anything public has a decent chance of being recorded by someone and not hidden - the "cctv footage not avialable" excuse often rolled out by the police may no longer even matter. Of course, where its only "you and them" you're screwed - "he fell down the stairs" still being the excuse of choice, along with the classic "missing police notebook"- unless they raid your home and shoot you outright, but at least then you'll get an apology and an agreement that "mistakes were made".
Ha ha...
Wake up ....You were born in one Mi Dear
There have been protests in Dalston Shpping Centre, because the Army were going to rent a store there.
They have opened this week and won't allow picketing.
And there are adverts all over London trying to get people to join up as air fodder for the Yanks.
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