You know the man who died at the recent G20 protests in London? The 47 year old newsagent who wasn’t even part of the demo but was passing by on his way from work? The guy who police said simply collapsed and died of a heart attack as if the excitement dun ‘im in, and whose rescuers were supposed to have been pelted with bottles by the mob?
Well, it turns out the police have been caught lying. Again. Apart from the testimony from several witnesses, there's now video footage acquired by The Guardian of bystander Ian Tomlinson being batoned on the legs and falling to the ground in front of a bunch of cops. He is assisted by another civilian, walks away and then drops dead. There are no missiles being thrown in this location in these moments: the violence is all one-way.
I wonder, as with Harry Stanley, the Hackney man gunned down by the police for carrying a 12-bore coffee-table leg, and with Jean Charles de Menezes, the Brazilian electrician who received no warning before he was shot in the head several times with dum-dum bullets just in case he survived the first shot and the six that followed, if anyone will be held accountable. If they are running true to form, the authorities will do everything they can to blame the protesters and the dead man himself.
"Serious questions have been raised after the watchdog [IPCC] allowed City of London police to launch an inquiry into the death, despite its own officers being involved in the death. ... when a video revealed that Mr Tomlinson had been violently thrown to the ground before suffering a heart attack, a commission investigator asked the newspaper which first broke the story to remove the footage from its website." Read further
So much for democracy and the right to peaceful protest.
Meanwhile, talking about peace, former Prime Minister Tony Blair takes another payoff from interested parties in the Iraq war. First it was millions from JP Morgan, the bank which made more than any other in its capacity as co-ordinator of all the western (mostly US) banks pillaging the country. So much for conflict of interest. Then an Israeli institution — a university — pays him a million dollars. Now the Kuwaitis, old enemies of Iraq, have paid him a seven-figure sum for services rendered.
The ruling class know the game’s up and are looting the western economies with a vigour that is breathtaking to watch. Of course the press remain largely supine, chucking prolefeed at the rest of us in an attempt to distract us from the criminals dismantling our society at the very top.
More at Organised Rage, Harpy Marx, Channel 4 News, Channel 4 News videos, The Guardian
UPDATE: Petition to indict Tony Blair for war crimes
10 comments:
Sorry for my pessimism, but it's going to be another whitewash, an "open verdict" at best.
Did you notice how appalling the Daily Mail were today (makes a nice change, doesnt it?).
Obviously with the police caught lying and the the stuff about anarchists showering old bill with bottles not having a leg to stand on, the snobby Mail are now trying a new angle: that of character assassination.
They are now referring to Ian Tomlinson as a "homeless alcoholic", as if that was supposed to somehow water down the officers' crime.
Really powerful post.
Tony Blair's favorite book is Deutscher's three volume bio of Trotsky. Blair and permanent revolution is a contradiction.
your blog is very good
Ha! Call me Mystic Meg, Claude. We didn't see that one coming, did we? Cue dirt dishing on the victim.
Remember how Harry Stanley was smeared with being drunk (if being pissed was a capital offence, half the law lords would have been topped) and then it turns out he stopped off in the pub for a lemonade? And who can forget Menezes being a puffa-jacketed coke-fiend?
Poor Ian Tomlinson's family now have to endure this cruelty throughout their bereavement.
Thanks, Renegade. That book choice is a bit of a gobsmacker. When Blair first came to our attention it was claimed that his fave book was Ivanhoe. But then we all started laughing at him. And his adolescent identification with the Christian Crusader is now sadly well known.
It's a wonder that they bother to lie any more. Everything is filmed and can go viral on Youtube within hours. You'd think that the police would go straight to character assassination.
Nice Blog Madam Miaow,
Maverick film director Bill Maloney with his camerawoman Lilly Starr joined protesters 2 April 2009 to pay respects to victim Ian Tomlinson (47) who lost his life tragically at the previous days protests.
This was the second day that Maloney had been held captive by police. He refused to leave the protestors (now known as 'kettling')after police told him he and his camerawoman could leave. Maloney said "I'll stay with democracy!". Here is some unedited footage from a 3 hour documentary cataloging the G20 protests 2009:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-gnm2l-bIeA&feature=channel
I've looked at that video quite a few times and I can't see a baton being used by the policeman. To me it's a hard shove with both hands.
Can you spot any baton?
You can see the baton at around 1:24, and then again at the end. But the strike is shown best at Channel 4 as linked in the main post. It's the top video at this page:
http://www.channel4.com/news/articles/uk/tomlinson+death+missing+moment/3076487
How is the response of the general public (not activist)?
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