Wednesday, April 08, 2009


POLICE BRUTALITY:
MORE ON 'DEATH AT THE DEMO':
Since Molly last wrote on the heart attack death of Mr. Ian Tomlinson during the course of the G20 demonstrations in London further information has come to light, information that proves that the police had a far more active role in Mr. Tomlinson's death than was apparent earlier. A video that has now been broadcast worldwide shows the events that immediately preceded his death. Molly has seen the video on the BBC, and it shows the following. As said before Mr. Tomlinson was not one of the protesters. As he was walking past a group of policemen on his way home from work (with no demonstrators in the immediate vicinity) he was attacked from behind. One officer hit him with a baton in the back of the knees and then shoved him forward to the ground. While Tomlinson was on the ground a nearby demonstrator helped him to his feet. Tomlinson walked off, and his heart attack happened very soon afterwards.
The following article from the Asian Anarchist Network gives the story, along with references, including links to the video, and suggests worldwide protests over this event. It is interesting to note that should this assault have been committed by an ordinary citizen that charges would be almost certain to follow. The assault in question could have contributed to Mr. Tomlinson's death by at least two mechanisms that Molly is familiar with. The first is that both the emotional and physical impact of the assault could have set up a cardiac arrhythmia that led to cardiac arrest. The second is that either the first blow or the force of hitting the ground could have sent a blood clot cascading through his circulatory system that lodged in one of the cardiac arteries. In other words the death could have been a direct result of the assault. If the same circumstances had been present in an ordinary assault the assailant would be long since in jail, and serious charges would be discussed.
The video is further revealing in what else it shows. Mr. Tomlinson hardly fit the profile of a "demonstrator". In this aspect he is hardly unique in that many simple passersby have been assaulted by police at numerous demonstrations across the world. Molly has already commented on the "hyped-up" condition of the average policeman at such events. In this case, however, the circumstances were particularly aggravating. Mr. Tomlinson was simply walking past the gaggle of police, with his hands in his pockets and engaging in absolutely no provocative behavior whatsoever. All of us have done this at least a few times in our lives. Walk past the insanity without giving its participants any notice, in the hope that you won't get involved. Then...when he was clear of the gang, and when his back was turned, he was attacked from behind. It's pretty hard to be "threatening" when you are walking away from a gang with your hands in your pocket. It's going to take a lot of bullshit to explain this one away.
In any case, here's the story from the AAN.
,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,
ACT NOW! UK Police Killed Innocent Man at London G20, new video evidence: http://www.guardian.co.uk/‏:
Comrades;
ACT NOW! UK Police Killed Innocent Man at London G20, new video evidence: http://www.guardian.co.uk/
Hello,
Please help.
Some people have started a call out for demonstrations at UK Embassies at 12 noon this Friday, 10 April, to call for charges of murder for the officer who is responsible for the death of Ian Tomlinson at the G20 in London.
There is a new video just in the last few hours (this is being posting now at 23:13, European time), proving that an unprovoked attack by a masked UK policeman is responsible for the death of an innocent bystander during the G20 meeting in London a few days ago.
A quick search on Google for the name of the killed man:Ian Tomlinson...shows that as of now no international press at all is covering this story(Actually it's now hitting the media big time-Molly). Please forward this immediately to every contact you can. We need to make a huge issue of this immediately. All anti-repression groups should look at this, and the guilty officer needs to be immediately charged with murder.
One proposal for immediate action is to write to the UK Independent Police Complaints Commission:
Customer Services : 08453 002 002 (press 1 at prompt -9.00am - 5.00pm)
Switchboard: 08453 002 002 ( press 2 at prompt - 9.00am - 5.00pm)
Mincom: 020 7404 0431 Fax: 020 7404 0430
While reformist, this tactic has been successfully used in California to charge an officer with murder in the last few months, and without massive complaints, he would have gone free.
please, do something now against this murder during G20 in London.See you on the streets this Friday!
*****************
FURTHER INFO:
UK Guardian articles:G20 police assault revealed in video:
Footage shows Ian Tomlinson, the man who died during G20 protests in London, being attacked from behind (by masked police) De Menezes taught the Met nothing: Footage of a police assault on Ian Tomlinson at the G20 demo – moments before he died – suggests their tactics are dangerously wrong
further articles:
G20 activists want public inquiry Page last updated at 10:38 GMT, Sunday, 5 April 2009 11:38 UK
"In a statement, a group calling themselves G20 Witnesses(These people's email contact was mentioned in the previous article on this matter-Molly) said: "We call for a full public inquiry to look into Mr Tomlinson's death and the police tactics used throughout the G20 protests."
... G20 death man 'had heart attack' Page last updated at 02:49 GMT, Saturday, 4 April 2009 03:49 UK
"The City of London Police said: "A post-mortem examination found he died of natural causes."... ***please forward***
ACT NOW!
UK Police Killed Innocent Man at London G20, new video evidence:
,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,
MOLLY NOTE:
I have set up a poll on the sister site to this blog, Molly's Polls, asking you what you think should happen to the police officer who committed the assault. Drop on over to give your opinion. I want to re-emphasize that if the assailant had not been a police officer then serious charges would follow almost automatically. I would also like to emphasize that there were "aggravating circumstances" in this case, especially the assault from behind.

1 comment:

Mr. Beer N. Hockey said...

Sounds like the dead guy was a commie. "Asking for it, he was. We took it easy on him, mind you. Died by accident. Like that bloke in Vancouver."