Ian Tomlinson - police and media distortions unravel, public inquiry needed
The death of Ian Tomlinson is an indictment of the police and media. Even today the Sun repeats its lies about G20 'yobs' as the evidence piles up to illuminate an undeniable truth - that it was widespread police brutality, documented on this blog on the day, and in many other places, which provides the background to that day at the Bank of England when someone died.
Battering protesters and bystanders about the head is a dangerous thing for the police to do. The head injuries it is alleged Ian Tomlinson sustained, according to eye witness testimonies, when he fell to the floor with his head making heavy impact after being hit by rampaging riot police, means there are urgent questions to be answered by the authorities.
So it wasn't a banker that was strung up but a homeless man who did his best to get by through working at a newsagent. Ian Tomlinson lived in a hostel in the City, he was also a big Millwall fan.
Living where he did, surrounded by the opulence of the traders and bankers' gambling den he probably appreciated better than most how just a few crumbs from that table of opulence could have transformed his life, and many more besides. But it was out of reach, as it is for tens of millions of us, in Britain, the most unequal society in Europe.
His 'proflie' from a police perspective would place him in the target group of persons more likely to be stopped and searched. Forget about Inspector Morse, detection and forensics. The police on the streets are encouraged to act on initiative; this initiative is informed by prejudice - it is how they come to judgments on who is more likely to commit certain crimes; what a suspect 'looks like'. Not all crimes are priorities either. Domestic violence and rape are often ignored while protesters holding peaceful protests are smashed - an exact description of what happened to the climate camp on Bishopsgate.
So although Ian Tomlinson was a bystander would he have been hostile to the aims of the protesters? His widow, from whom he was separated, told Salford Online Ian died 'for the crimes of capitalism'. The distortions of the Sun, using a family's tragedy for its own ends, are for a warped agenda that sees it as a democratic duty of the media to support and assist in the suppression of dissent.
Battering protesters and bystanders about the head is a dangerous thing for the police to do. The head injuries it is alleged Ian Tomlinson sustained, according to eye witness testimonies, when he fell to the floor with his head making heavy impact after being hit by rampaging riot police, means there are urgent questions to be answered by the authorities.
So it wasn't a banker that was strung up but a homeless man who did his best to get by through working at a newsagent. Ian Tomlinson lived in a hostel in the City, he was also a big Millwall fan.
Living where he did, surrounded by the opulence of the traders and bankers' gambling den he probably appreciated better than most how just a few crumbs from that table of opulence could have transformed his life, and many more besides. But it was out of reach, as it is for tens of millions of us, in Britain, the most unequal society in Europe.
His 'proflie' from a police perspective would place him in the target group of persons more likely to be stopped and searched. Forget about Inspector Morse, detection and forensics. The police on the streets are encouraged to act on initiative; this initiative is informed by prejudice - it is how they come to judgments on who is more likely to commit certain crimes; what a suspect 'looks like'. Not all crimes are priorities either. Domestic violence and rape are often ignored while protesters holding peaceful protests are smashed - an exact description of what happened to the climate camp on Bishopsgate.
So although Ian Tomlinson was a bystander would he have been hostile to the aims of the protesters? His widow, from whom he was separated, told Salford Online Ian died 'for the crimes of capitalism'. The distortions of the Sun, using a family's tragedy for its own ends, are for a warped agenda that sees it as a democratic duty of the media to support and assist in the suppression of dissent.
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