Ian Tomlinson.

I've been meaning to talk about the tragic death of Ian Tomlinson all week, especially after Mummylonglegs left a comment elsewhere here about the Guardian video. Let's have a look shall we (from here)?
Hmm. Well, as the Ambush Predator points out it's easy to go bananas and say the police killed the poor guy, even though for all anyone knows at the moment he might have had a heart attack on the way home or later that night anyway. It's one of those situations where we can look and say that it might have been brought on early by the police being heavy handed, but equally it might have been natural. People do unexpectedly drop dead sometimes and enitrely without the help of the police. If the investigation finds that injuries inflicted by the police brought on a fatal heart attack then I'd happily see the bastards responsible hung by their thumbs and slowly lowered into a vat of boiling piss, but till then I'm not going to be too judgmental about the causes of Ian Tomlinson's death. Yes, maybe there'll be a cover up but why bother? It sounds like it'll be fucking difficult to prove in court anyway, and if we start thinking about short cutting justice to get at a dodgy and violent copper then we're all fucked. If we want the law to protect us in the future we must accept it offering the same protection to cunts now.

Still, even if we give them the benefit of the doubt, as we should for the time being, the actions of the police that day are a bit of a worry. This might not be another police fuck up in the style of the Steven Waldorf or Jean Charles de Menenzes incidents, but personally I think they were heavy handed in that video. Even if Ian Tomlinson had been mouthy or difficult with them around the corner and off camera there's simply no fucking excuse, none whatsoever, for knocking someone down and using the stick when he's got his back to you and walking away with his hands in his pockets. I can't see how any reasonable copper could think he was a threat to them right then and there. Let's reiterate - middle aged man, hands in pockets, walking away from the police. Is that a threat? Does that justify one of the coppers charging up behind him, sticking the poor sod and knocking him to the ground? Does it fuck! If there was some honesty from the police and an admission that there was a lot of adrenalin flowing I'd have a little respect, but as things stand it's just an example of outrageous and unnecessary police brutality. It might not have been what led to Ian Tomlinson's death but it was fucking wrong all the same. "It looks ugly" is it so far.

And there's something else. Look again at the copper involved. Look at his/her face. See? No, because the copper who knocked him down is masked, and not the only one. I can't be the only one uncomfortable with the image of masked and helmeted police laying into unarmed and unthreatening citizens with fucking batons. That looks pretty fucking ugly to me as well. I know that a number of officers, supposedly including the one involved, have come forward and are going to co-operate with the inquiry, but it's worth noting that this is after the video came out. Honest regret or damage control? I'll give them the benefit of the doubt there as well, but senior police need to be asked some questions to, mainly what the fucking fuck they thought they were doing fielding masked up stick happy cunt officers to deal with masked up punchy cunt protestors. Next up, the London Fire Brigade will demonstrate how to extinguish fires with a combination of petrol, napalm and plutonium.

Fuckwits.

H/T to Mummylonglegs.

UPDATE: this stuff chills the soul, it really does.

AND ANOTHER: Officer suspended. Another H/T to MummyLL for that too.