i) officers are accountable for their actions, and will - if they have done anything wrong - be held accountable for this demonstration;
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 then it will be claimed that the actions were neccessary and proportionate etc.
ii) there has been ample violence directed at police today, who after all did not start off in riot gear.
Not really - kettling is far safer than the alternative, which is to run about fighting all over the place. We know nothing of the circumstances of this mans death at this stage.
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 everything to do with the whole strategy employed:
Stage 1: The "crowd shaping" phase - 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 means that no one section is more than a certain size. Keeping it static means that people can't 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.
eta: Stage 1-3 is applied first of all to the 'high risk' area (ie BoE). By the time they get to stage 4 there, they can shift attention to the Climate Camp, going hrough the same shape/wear down/release/finish off process there as well.
Great country we live in, isn't it?
