08 April 2009

A disgrace



This footage of Ian Tomlinson, the man who died at last week's G20 protest in the City of London first appeared on the
Guardian website. It is now all over the press and the blogosphere. The footage was shot by a fund manager from New York who was in ­London on business, said he had attended the protests out of curiosity. He said: "The primary reason for me coming forward is that it was clear the family were not ­getting any answers."

It was not long after this assault that Tomlinson died of a heart attack. An official police statement on the night of his death made no reference to any ­contact with officers and described attempts by police medics and an ambulance crew to save his life after he collapsed – efforts which they said were marred by ­protesters throwing missiles as first aid was ­administered .

Whether the actions of the police precipitated Mr Tomlinson’s heart attack or not, the actions of the police in the footage were an utter disgrace. The officer who downed Mr Tomlinson is simply not fit to wear the uniform.

8 comments:

Gabriel said...

I agree with you, Jams. A total disgrace, whether or not Mr. Tomlinson's death was linked to the brutal treatment he received.

Now there's another thing I percieved while watching this video at different websites. The description of the events varied substantially, depending on the ideology of such media. Argentina's "Clarin" newspaper, for example, said just below the video something like "you can see how Ian Tomlinson -who wasn't taking part of the protests- is pushed by the police and falls on the street, where he died minutes later". And you can see him walking away on the video! Even more, they say that he wasn't taking part of the protests, but the header of that article is something in the lines of 'G20 activist brutally killed by the police'. And this is not the only place where I've seen things like that... very unfortunate, trying to use a person's death to push your political agenda, don't you think?

Garth said...

What a surprise... policemen acting as if they have the power to inflict violence on whomever they chose?
I have never met a policeman/woman who doesn't fit the profile of psychopath/borderline personality disorder.
It's a calling.
I bet the outcome will be "no charges to answer"

jams o donnell said...

The spin does not surprise me Gabriel. What isn't used for a political agena. That said it was a disgraceful act. I hope the perpetrator is hung out to dry.

It is Lisa

That's is rather a sweeping statement Pisces. I hope the outcome is not the one you suggest/ I won't hold my breath though

CherryPie said...

I don't like what I see here but I would need to see what happened before the video clip. The clip and the various commentaries don't add up! There is more to this than we have seen.

TorAa said...

Well, this is nothing but a tragedy.

It's about beeing on the wrong place on the wrong time.
It happens very Day.
But we seems not care any longer:
The Death on our Roads.

An Air Crash with two people involved is a Frontpage headliner, while 4 people dead in a Car Crash - page 5 as a notice, unless in local papers.

Wordless I am.

jams o donnell said...

It still doesn't condone the officer's action. If he had provoked then why was he not arrested Cherie?

Again I know what you mean Tor

Bengbeng said...

This is disturbing. We have been seeing a spate of such incidents in my country too recently including tear gas, chemical water cannons etc.

I hope you dont mind i give you a link. It is of a disturbing nature.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bZYpm1W-K08

jams o donnell said...

My God Bengbeng, that is awful