Police Brutality

Paul King on the footage of the police attacking his father, Ian Tomlinson, prior to his death:

"Whether that was a cause to his death we are not to know... We want answers: why? Ian clearly had his arms in his pockets and back towards the police. There is no need for them to step in towards him. It clearly shows that Ian did have an altercation. Now we can say, yes he did. Up until now it has been 'if'. But now we've seen it, we want answers."

Quite. Whether this attack killed Ian Tomlinson is open to question; but the footage shows an unprovoked attack on an innocent bystander by the police. Let's not forget, Tomlinson was not part of the protests; he was coming back from doing his job as a newspaper vendor. Yet he is kicked and pushed to the ground by the police.

Sure, you argue that the police had a day of provocation from nihilistic protestors - and as regular readers will know, I am no fan of these protestors. The police are human, and maybe they snapped after a day of insults, grief and missiles from the nihilists. But acknowledging they are human does not excuse this behaviour; this was an innocent man, kicked to the ground by those who are meant to uphold the law. It is not acceptable; it is also terrifying and appalling.

The irony is that this unprovoked attack on Tomlinson will probably do far more to undermine the status quo and the state than any amount of protesting ever could. There will be many - myself included - who can see themselves in the place of Mr Tomlinson, and therefore see the police as people to fear.