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Weds 1st April: G20 protests - discussion, reaction and chat

Apparently the deceased is a middle aged man was found face up near some steps, he was not breathing when found and he appeared to have been struck on the top right of the head as there was blood.
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Banged his head on the steps right in front of the view of the police I'm sure. We won't hear any more about this until it's all over.
 
where to said:
just thinking, the 999 call was 19.07pm which was around the time that there were more kickoffs just outside the Bank of England (which is meant to be where the deceased was found).

i think this was around the time that has been shown on the al jazeera clip posted earlier, and on the C4 news tonight (you can see it over at their website), where the protesters had put up fences to stop them being attacked, and the riot cops steamed in pretty heavy.
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exactly what I was thinking.

also worth noting that nobody's said anything about him fitting, so it's unlikely to be epilepsy related, which would be the most likely none being smacked on the head related cause of someone collapsing in this kind of situation.

the probability of this being totally unrelated to police action is diminishing rapidly IMO.
 
A good post!!
_float_ said:
How exactly, since they all cover their numbers up & some even wear face masks? Who is going to do the investigation if someone complains about being beaten for no reason by a faceless, numberless police officer somewhere near the bank of england this afternoon and how would they go about collecting evidence. You are dreaming if you think anyone is going to get legal redress over that against any specific officer, unless they have very good clear footage, and even hen it will b claimd that the actions were necessary and proportionate etc.
The issue of what police wear is actually a red herring, it is what they *do* that is important. A policeman kitted out in riot gear who behaves reasonably isn't a problem. One kitted out in normal gear behaving like a twat is a problem.

This has everyting to do with the whole strategy employed:

Stage 1: get in the way of marchers at the last minute (ie just before the BoE) and try and push them backwards in on themselves. Cut the crowd into managable 'chunks' using barriers and lines of officers. Prevent people from going down side streets. Prevent people from going in or out of certain areas. "Shape" the crowds into static lumps of a certain size and keep them there against their will, to demoralise the more 'casual' protestors. Shaping the crowd mans that no one section is more than a certain size. Keeping it static means that people can' choose where and how they protest, and allows stage 2 to progress.

Stage 2: Keeping this 'holding pattern', get increasingly kitted up and start rough-housing the crowd in sections - push them around pointlessly and start beating them, but don't let them leave. Further wears down and demoralises people and also provides the pretext for next stage...

Stage 3: The 'controlled release' phase - disperse the 'softer targets' in the crowd in small increments, by baton charging and pushing the crowd around, but now allowing some people to escape. Because people have been held so long most will immediately decide to go home at this point. On the way out they are intimidated and isolated so are easier to bully and instruct, less likely to join another demonstration. In effect the softer targets are bullied off the field of play.

Stage 4: The "Finish them off" phase - anyone who still remains is driven further together and can now be labelled as "the hard core" - by the fact they have remained (and ignoring that they have been penned in). At this point they can be baton charged repeatedly, the media will have run away and its too dark for decent footage, news deadlines have past and the remainder can be arrested, id-ed, searched etc.

This strategy is put in place beforehand, and enacted regardless of how peaceful people are. Anyone wanting to uncover the documentation and management of this by senior officers is told to get fucked on the grounds of operational secrecy, public safety and national security. The proof exists however by looking at even after event where the same thing is put into effect, regardless of people's "right to protest" or how well behaved people are.

Great country we live in, isn't it?
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what with the times and the reuters report i think we can conclude that the deceased got into trouble during and close to a police charge/ general kickoff

another report puts the ambulance call at 19:26pm btw, still exactly round the time of kick-off in that location...
 
GoneCoastal said:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/georgemonbiot/2009/apr/01/g20-policing-climate-protest-riot

Quite different slant to the link editor posted from the other newspaper
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The way officers tooled themselves up in riot gear and waded into a peaceful crowd this afternoon makes it look almost as if they were trying to ensure that their predictions came true.
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I thought was bit naff the rest was good article, from where I were I saw two Police Constables sporting nasty head wounds and they were wearing "cloth" caps and begs to differ why weren't they wear helmets from the start of they had then they won't have got head wounds such as these.

I guess it make good media and newsworthy coverage, seen this stuff before at the Mayday Oxford Street protest, in front "soft caps" police saying in the Daily Mirror, One Nil headline what they didn't show in that front page newspaper was there was a row of helmeted cops behind them.

Anyway with the City Workers wearing "non-working clothes" made things in my opinion easier. Police couldn't tell which is which.
 
Azrael said:
What is the law on an officer covering up their numbers, anyhow? It should be illegal, if it isn't already.
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It is in Scotland, but its not in England, only "bad practice".

I made a formal complaint about the police having no numbers at the G8, only to be told that it was English police who had been poorly briefed on Scots Law. Yes, they had indeed broken the law, but as they had no numbers they couldnt identify who they were. :rolleyes:
 
N_igma said:
Well fucking do something about it instead of sitting on your non-violent shite!
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because fighting them will solve everyone won't it?:rolleyes:

i'm not going to comment on the death, i'll wait for the inquest. the speculation achieves nothing.
 
q_w_e_r_t_y said:
It is in Scotland, but its not in England, only "bad practice".

I made a formal complaint about the police having no numbers at the G8, only to be told that it was English police who had been poorly briefed on Scots Law. Yes, they had indeed broken the law, but as they had no numbers they couldnt identify who they were. :rolleyes:
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i remember that happening in scotland. there were numerous examples of english police breaking scots laws.
 
q_w_e_r_t_y said:
It is in Scotland, but its not in England, only "bad practice".

I made a formal complaint about the police having no numbers at the G8, only to be told that it was English police who had been poorly briefed on Scots Law. Yes, they had indeed broken the law, but as they had no numbers they couldnt identify who they were. :rolleyes:
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fairly easy to id the ones without numbers... twas the whole of the met's contingent up there, plus a few others, but it was pretty much all the met who were kicking off.

this aspect of the law really needs changing IMO so that police who go too far (aka beat the shit out of protestors for no good reason) at protests can be identified and prosecuted.

how does it go again? nothing to fear, nothing to hide...
 
sarahluv said:
because fighting them will solve everyone won't it?:rolleyes:
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Sitting on your hole will do fuck all. Quite ironic that it's a climate change rally, considerng us humans have been sitting doing fuck all this decades while the environment is going to shit!
 
police overheard saying they hope someone slips whilst taking down banner. Nice 1236

Police making threats through load speaker. No one can hear what they're saying. South perimeter. 1236
 
climatecamp 0:36am Police making threats through load speaker. No one can hear what they're saying. South perimeter.
 
In regards to a Man's death from IMC
A youngish bloke next to me said he suffered from claustrophobia, then sat down on the pavement with his head in his hands, back to the wall. He didn't look at all well.

This was after we had all been moved into a crush by some brain-dead police pushing us towards Bank station yelling at us to move "straight on". Even though there was nowhere to move to. A few minutes before a few people were in a recessed doorway, out of harms way. Thanks to the police we were then penned in, jostling with very little room. Like battery chickens, perhaps.

Then this young bloke all but collapsed. A woman protestor told the police that somebody had fainted. Two thuggish "police medics", complete with riot sticks, and a rough guy in plain clothes came through the police line and took him out, back into the same doorway mentioned above. I don't know if the plain-clothes man was a cop. But he was rough, needing to push people because of the little space.

There was another young bloke with this guy and he tried to go through the police line. They wouldn't let him at first. A policeman on the line asked him if the collapsed guy was taking any drugs or alcohol "because the medics will need to know". After a couple of minutes he was let through.

Last I saw the guy was on the ground in the doorway with two "police medics" bent down next to him. This was when we were allowed out of the line and back further up Cornhill.

If it was this guy who died, I feel sorry for him.
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A youngish bloke next to me said he suffered from claustrophobia, then sat down on the pavement with his head in his hands, back to the wall. He didn't look at all well.

This was after we had all been moved into a crush by some brain-dead police pushing us towards Bank station yelling at us to move "straight on". Even though there was nowhere to move to. A few minutes before a few people were in a recessed doorway, out of harms way. Thanks to the police we were then penned in, jostling with very little room. Like battery chickens, perhaps.

Then this young bloke all but collapsed. A woman protestor told the police that somebody had fainted. Two thuggish "police medics", complete with riot sticks, and a rough guy in plain clothes came through the police line and took him out, back into the same doorway mentioned above. I don't know if the plain-clothes man was a cop. But he was rough, needing to push people because of the little space.

There was another young bloke with this guy and he tried to go through the police line. They wouldn't let him at first. A policeman on the line asked him if the collapsed guy was taking any drugs or alcohol "because the medics will need to know". After a couple of minutes he was let through.

Last I saw the guy was on the ground in the doorway with two "police medics" bent down next to him. This was when we were allowed out of the line and back further up Cornhill.

If it was this guy who died, I feel sorry for him.
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Sounds like a very big 'if' there, must've been more than one or two who fainted or had panic attacks in that mess, could barely breathe myself for the most part.
 
climatecamp: Police pulling people out one at a time. South perimeter.
less than 20 seconds ago from txt · Reply · View Tweet

malbonster: RT @ecotist: RT @george_ina: RT @climatecamp: We're standing up one at a time and telling the riot police why we're here. #g20
1 minute ago from TweetDeck · Reply · View Tweet

ecotist: RT @climatecamp: Police making threats through load speaker. No one can hear what they're saying. South perimeter.
2 minutes ago from TweetDeck · Reply · View Tweet

ecotist: RT @george_ina: RT @climatecamp: We're standing up one at a time and telling the riot police why we're here. #g20
3 minutes ago from TweetDeck · Reply · View Tweet


BenSix: @MattKeefe - I can only RT @climatecamp; "We remain non-violent". If protestors fight back it becomes a "battle".
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twitter climatecamp feed
 
Guardian piece:
Confrontations turned tetchy as police repeatedly tried to separate the Meltdown demonstration. Later in the afternoon, student protesters sitting down in the street were charged by baton-wielding police. "When people surrounded RBS I could understand police tactics but we were sat down trying to have a peaceful protest but they started whacking us," said Jack Bright, 19. With his head wounds bandaged up by an ITN crew, Finn O'Sullivan, 21, said: "I just remember shields coming down on us. The police were stamping and kicking. I asked them to let me through the line for medical treatment but they said no."
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And , my favourite line:
"This is the worst festival I've ever been to," said one man, shouldered around a corner by massed ranks of police.
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http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/apr/02/g20-protests-london-rbs
 
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