LOBBY AND PROTEST AT THE IPCC'S NICK HARDWICK! 6pm, Tuesday 12 May 2009 The Karibu Centrel, 7 Gresham Road, London SW9 “The meeting will be an opportunity for Lambeth residents to raise any issues of concern with IPPC (sic) Chair Nick Hardwick.” - So says the Community Police Consultative Group for Lambeth (CPCG) website . The United Campaign Against Police Violence is calling for those angered with the way the IPCC is squarely on the side of the police to come along, build the 23 May demo against police violence outside the event and put some questions to Nick Hardwick that he won't want to hear!

Police cash for protester to spy, coppers boasting of giving the citizens they 'serve' a bloody good kicking, the IPCC investigating 25 complaints of head injuries, and a PC Rob Ward's days in the force numbered (by the way, the first name of a policeman that has found its way into the public domain since the G20 police attacks and the murder of Ian Tomlinson) - the reputation of the police in Britain worsens by the day... The Met said last night it was attempting to identify the author of the comments, which were left on the Policeman's Blog site following the death of Mr Tomlinson, a newspaper vendor, on 1 April. The latest inflammatory remarks from serving policemen over the treatment of G20 protesters surfaced after it emerged that PC Rob Ward, 27, had allegedly bragged on Facebook how he was going to "bash some long-haired hippies" at the G20 demonstrations. On Friday, Met commissioner Sir Paul Stephenson responded to rising anti-police sentiment follow...

IPCC, contrary to Hardwick's statements to parliament, is now trying to stop videos appearing in the public domain. It sought, unsuccessfully, an injunction to stop Channel 4 showing an excerpt on YouTube that has since been removed. Abolish the IPCC now. Well done to the Guardian for broadcasting the full footage on it's site: http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2009/apr/22/new-ian-tomlinson-g20-video

My union, the National Union of Journalists , may take legal action against cops. From the Guardian Roy Mincoff, the NUJ's senior legal officer, is spearheading the NUJ's preparation of G20-related cases and will be contacting the Independent Police Complaints Commission and the Home Office minister, Vernon Coaker. Union members that attended the G20 protests in the City of London on 1 April and 2 April complained to the NUJ about alleged assaults by officers, the use of cordons and police refusing to release journalists from areas in which demonstrators were contained for several hours, known as "kettling". "We may take legal action in relation to the assaults, we may similarly do that in relation to the kettling," Mincoff said.

A parliamentary committee will be talking to the Independent Police Complaints Committee's Nick Hardwick today. Don't expect him to get a grilling from the the very same parliamentarians that granted all those powers to the police in the first place. The IPCC is of course financed by the Home Offfice and it's lack of independence will no doubt be on display today as it tries to explain, if asked, its cosy relationship with the police and government. Hardwick says we need a national debate on policing. No, what we need from his IPCC is for it to do its job and help to bring violent and criminal police officers to account. But isn't it remarkable what a difference a week makes as media outlets, and others, apparently fall over themselves to start focusing on police behaviour instead of demonising peaceful protesters. In addition to our new converts in the media in the fight against police brutality, we also have Tory politicians like Boris Johnson calling for a speedy an...

From the Daily Mail G20 policeman suspended as new pictures reveal victim's drunken clash with officers shortly before he collapsed The newspaper seller, wearing a Millwall football shirt, appears to be deliberately blocking a police van as he walks across the street smoking a cigarette, with the driver leaning out of the window to ask him to move "However, the fresh pictures, which were taken by IT worker Ross Hardy, seem to complicate events surrounding the 47-year-old's death." The headline, caption and excerpt above are from the Daily Mail . Ian's Evening Standard paper-selling friend is quoted as saying he was not drunk in the Telegraph this morning. And even if he was both drunk and blocking a police vehicle is that an excuse to kill him, as the Daily Mail infers with its 'complicate events' ruse? Telegraph has this from Ian's friend Barry Smith: "He had a drink problem but that day he was completely sober and was looking forward...

Fresh from our inbox - IPCC press release The IPCC has called for the officer to be suspended. The MPS has now informed us that the officer has [been] suspended with immediate effect. Although decisions about suspension are a matter for the Chief Officer of the police, when there is an IPCC investigation, the police are obliged to consult with us over the suspension of officers. In this case, we have expressed the view that the officer in question should be suspended from duty, in the public interest. It's the least they could do. Given the prima facie evidence why hasn't he been arrested yet?

[update 24 April 2009] Breaking news: Ian Tomlinson head injury picture shows police culpability Yet more evidence emerged today of the murder of Ian Tomlinson at the hands of the police. Massive bruising to the head can be seen after his head slammed to the pavement after being batoned and pushed over by a Territorial Support Group policeman, whose name we still do not know. Not sure why Sky News have 'disguised' Ian's face by blanking out the eyes. The police have sought and been granted a third postmortem on Ian Tomlinson, the findings of which are still not known. From Sky News Newspaper seller Ian Tomlinson, who was shoved onto the pavement by a policeman during the G20 protests, suffered a head injury before he died. Close-up of the injury to Mr Tomlinson's head A photograph obtained by Sky News suggests strongly that the injury was the result of the alleged assault by the officer, who has been suspended and questioned on suspicion of manslaughter. Sh...

Reading the Guardian this morning is heartening as it confirms the suspicions of this blog from the very start: the police put out a lie to cover their tracks and then manipulated the family to keep the lie on the road. Here's that big lie again: "The officers gave him an initial check and cleared his airway before moving him back behind the cordon line to a clear area outside the Royal Exchange Building where they gave him CPR," "The officers took the decision to move him as during this time a number of missiles - believed to be bottles - were being thrown at them. They have refused to tell us or the Guardian why it took so long to announce his death - we made it fours hours not three as the Guardian states . The police have also still not revealed the provenance of the 'rain of missiles' story. 'Guidance' given to journalists last Thursday (2 April) by the City Of London police steered the media into the 'pre-existing condition' line: "...

Four TSG officers have presented themselves to the misnamed Independent Police Complaints Commission, but what about all the others that either witnessed the crime and/or did nothing to assist the victim, Ian Tomlinson? http://gazasolidarity.blogspot.com/2009/04/police-and-ipcc-manipulated-tomlinson.html "Needless to say no stone will remain unturned till they're cleared of all charges." - surprisingly good cartoon from Brooks on the front of the London morning paper the Metro.

About 50 minutes [12:45 BST] ago PA released an appeal for witnesses from Ian Tomlinson's family. From the BBC : (the link was placed at the bottom of the UK section of the site) . The full report does not make it clear to the reader that the IPCC has moved from a position of merely 'assessing' whether to hold an investigation to actually holding one. A statement from the family said: "Ian was a massive football fan and would have looked distinctive in his Millwall top. "He was probably on his way back from work to watch the England match and got caught up in the crowds. "People are putting pictures on the internet, writing on blogs and talking to journalists. Ian Tomlinson "But we really need them to talk to the people who are investigating what happened. As followers of the case, and this blog, will know, countless witnesses have already come forward, but this has not until recently been re...

Independent Police Complaints Commission opens investigation into killing of Ian Tomlinson . Not a word of contrition from the "hang 'em and flog 'em" media for the slurs against protesters, but the pressure has paid off ... so far. And whatever the outcome of the 'IPCC-managed' investigation of the police into the police, we are going to need a full public inquiry. The IPCC press release in full: 06/04/2009 For Immediate Release PR 1487 IPCC managing investigation into death of Ian Tomlinson The Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) is managing an investigation by City of London Police into the circumstances of police contact with Ian Tomlinson, who died near to the G20 protests on Wednesday 1 April 2009. This decision will be kept under review as the investigation progresses. Mr Tomlinson’s death was referred to the IPCC on 1 April, following which IPCC investigators have looked at many hours of CCTV, examined statements and police records...