Unprovoked assault on woman by G20 police - do you recognise this officer?

[MrNM 10]

Would you be saying the same if it was your sister/mother/daughter/wife.

I highly doubt it.

 

My family members have more sense that to continually cause trouble and rebel against the system for the sake of it because they are disillusioned that we don't have world peace, kill car drivers, rob the rich and smoke de sh**t all day!

[Digsy 10]

How can you possibly know that.

People who carry knives don't have a label you know?

Her manner and tone were aggressive, and the Asian guy was kicking off nearby.

Having never been in that situation, i don't know how i'd react, he well may have felt threatened.

 

Are you saying this lady was carrying a knife.

I'm sure ANYONE would adopt an aggressive attitude if they just got slapped across the face, did you happen to see the peace protestors turn to face the police line whilst chanting aggressive slogans.

I wouldn't have have slapped a women across the face and then beat her with a baton, thats for sure.

[Digsy 10]

My family members have more sense that to continually cause trouble and rebel against the system for the sake of it because they are disillusioned that we don't have world peace, kill car drivers, rob the rich and smoke de sh**t all day!

 

I think if you did a little research, it only requires a really small amount, you'd also find that most of the protestors comply to the above too.

But don't let that stop you from painting them all with the same brush.

[Gripper Stebson 10]

Are you saying this lady was carrying a knife.

I'm sure ANYONE would adopt an aggressive attitude if they just got slapped across the face, did you happen to see the peace protestors turn to face the police line whilst chanting aggressive slogans.

I wouldn't have have slapped a women across the face and then beat her with a baton, thats for sure.

 

 

FFS, where do i say she was carrying a knife?

Point is though she could have been, she could also have had a bomb strapped to her.(and no i'm not suggesting she did)

When i was younger, if a policeman had asked me to step back, i would have.

I certainly wouldn't have started screaming in his face, the fact it was a woman is irrelevant!

[Digsy 10]

FFS, where do i say she was carrying a knife?

Point is though she could have been, she could also have had a bomb strapped to her.(and no i'm not suggesting she did)

When i was younger, if a policeman had asked me to step back, i would have.

I certainly wouldn't have started screaming in his face, the fact it was a woman is irrelevant!

 

Not even if he slapped you across the chops?

[Gripper Stebson 10]

Not even if he slapped you across the chops?

 

 

Just prior to the incident a guy with cropped hair approached the police and was asked to step back, which he did, why couldn't she have done that? Then the guy in the background kicks off, she starts mouthing off expletives to the policemen, who asked her twice to step back, she didn't and continued to be aggressive. No sympathy from me i'm afraid, she got what she deserved.

[Alien 10]

Camera's don't lie but they don't tell the full story. She probably called him Mum a ho or something.

 

Or she was a lesbian to boot!..

 

 

The mindset of the woman is not in question...unless you can read her mind that is.

 

Look at the film again......prior to the incident all seemed pretty well under control from both sides....no crap going down. Because the woman, like any of us decided to use her right of freedom of speech. loudly or not did not warrant a physical attack from the officer.

 

 

Do we not have the right to question these actions? Have we become re-victorianised to the point that if it's authority we blindly conform to. Get in line and obey without question? Have our senses become so dull that when asked to sacrifice we just blindly obey.

 

Like the woman...or man...we can question or go/look the other way, turn a blind eye. If you turn a blind eye knowingly there will be only one victim...

Edited April 15, 2009 by Alien

[Alien 10]

Just prior to the incident a guy with cropped hair approached the police and was asked to step back, which he did, why couldn't she have done that? Then the guy in the background kicks off, she starts mouthing off expletives to the policemen, who asked her twice to step back, she didn't and continued to be aggressive. No sympathy from me i'm afraid, she got what she deserved.

 

 

 

Tell me...why do you condone violence?

 

You use words like "aggresive". How aggresive does someone have to be before being battoned and punched?

[garrence 10]

It's worth putting the video of this ruckus in context of what's going on around them.

 

If you watch the video on YouTube from the start, you'll see that everyone is standing around peacefully exercising their right to protest. The police have been instructed to form a line and prevent anyone passing. They will keep this up from lunchtime to evening - "you can have your protest but you cannot have access to food, water or toilets; you cannot leave for any reason whatsoever; anyone arriving will be intimidated into leaving".

 

Later in the day they will start letting people leave one by one - each must provide their full address (the law only allows the police to ask for names, but they threaten to arrest anyone who does not provide their address and DOB) and be photographed.

 

They are then entered on a police database of protesters which, until recently, the police denied even existed (liars).

 

These tactics are the source of much controversy. Here Tom Brake MP describes his 5 hours being detained by the police in this way:

It is not surprising that under such conditions an otherwise overwhelmingly relaxed and peaceful crowd can become agitated, then angry, and then violent. The tactic proved misguided and counter-productive. It served to alienate a whole mass of peaceful protesters.

 

My team and I escorted one protester with a broken arm to a police cordon. Not even his friend was allowed to accompany the injured man as he left the kettle. Journalistic freedom of speech was curtailed too — I filmed a journalist flanked by police, prevented from leaving despite legitimate credentials and contact information for the police to use.

 

Like the many wholly innocent prisoners around me, I resigned myself to being trapped for the long haul. I had five hours inside the kettle as pressure built to think about how things could have been handled; but also to question when our hard-fought liberties were lost, when containment became not about containing the mood of the crowd, but about physically penning them in.

 

So in the video you can see the police starting this tactic - they prevent anyone passing them towards the camera, but allow people inwards. You see people patiently explaining why they want to pass. When they get frustrated they get shoved back.

 

The woman appears to be questioning this (I'm assuming from her pointing) - and rightly so!

 

After being slapped she says "You hit a woman!". She is mainly upset about being slapped and presents no danger to anyone. This is enough to get her assaulted with a baton.

 

She most certainly does not "deserve" such an assault.

Edited April 15, 2009 by garrence

[cressida 1,562]

It is not in the public interest to have men who behave like thugs in our police force, or the police will lose respect. The incident should be investigated - I would quite happily see him made an example of and dismissed

[garrence 10]

It is not in the public interest to have men who behave like thugs in our police force, or the police will lose respect. The incident should be investigated - I would quite happily see him made an example of and dismissed

 

Quite.

 

There are just too many cases for the police to get away with pretending it was a "few bad apples".

 

The Guardian carries testimonies of some respectable people telling us about how they were assaulted by the police.

 

• A press photographer pushed over by a sergeant and his laptop broken.
  
• The same photographer hit by baton and got his arm broken.
  
• A 71 year-old man shoved over like Ian Tomlinson and badly bruised (this happened to lots of people, it seems to be intended to cause fright and confusion).
  
• The Deputy Director of the Oxford Research Group surrounded by a group of officers who punched him and hit him with their shields.
  
• A 27-year old female environmental consultant dragged out of the crowd then thrown head-first by laughing policemen.
  
• A lad who received a broken wrist after being hit with batons and pushed over several times.
  

 

The article is worth a read - the stories are chilling.

 

Yes we must prosecute the individual officers - but we must also hold the organisation to account and uphold the right to protest without being beaten up!

Edited April 15, 2009 by garrence

[Digsy 10]

 

If you read rachel's account you will also notice that bystanders were also being rounded up into the cordon, so that database of protesters also has people on it who didn't consider themselves to be part of the protest, but were in fact people trying to get home, etc.

 

Steve Lawsons footage shows how people were concerned about being penned in.

http://www.stevelawson.net/wordpress/2009/04/g20-protests-a-change-is-gonna-come/

 

Even some of the police officers present were concerned about it all, calling it a waste of time (tax payers money).

Edited April 15, 2009 by Digsy