By John Sexton
There was very little violence during protests against the recent G20 meeting in London. But one man lost his life, and controversy about the circumstances in which he died is growing. Ian Tomlinson a 47-year-old father who worked in a newspaper shop in London's financial district died of an apparent heart attack minutes after being caught up in a demonstration. He was not involved in the protest, according to his family, but had been simply walking through the area.
Now a video has emerged that shows a police officer carrying out what appears to be an unprovoked assault on Mr Tomlinson shortly before he died. The Guardian carried the video on its website today. It shows an officer in riot gear attacking Mr Tomlinson from behind, first striking his legs with a baton, then violently hurling him to the ground. At the time he was attacked, Mr Tomlinson had his back to the police and his hands in his pockets.
Shortly after Mr Tomlinson's death, police told the press that bottle throwing protesters had hampered their efforts to give first aid to Mr Tomlinson. The police claims are disputed by demonstrators who were at the scene and who claim that, on the contrary, as soon as it was realized someone was in difficulties, they made every effort to offer assistance.
The British police have a track record of leaking misleading information to the press when they are suspected of having been involved in suspicious deaths.
In July 2005, after police shot dead Brazilian electrician Jean Charles de Menezes on a London underground train after mistaking him for a terrorist, police leaked a story, later shown to be false, that de Menezes had vaulted ticket barriers and had run away from police when challenged. More remarkably, six months later they told the press that de Menezes had been identified as a suspect by the victim of a rape that had occurred two years before he died. The sensational story that the police had somehow fortuitously shot a rapist received splash coverage. The subsequent DNA test that proved de Menezes' innocence was barely mentioned by the press.
This time, it seems, the police have been caught out by, of all people, one of the prime targets of the protest, an American fund manager who was on a business trip to London and shot the video out of curiosity. The fund manager said he had come forward with the video because "the family were not – getting any answers."
To watch the video click here
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/video/2009/apr/07/g20-police-assault-video
(China.org.cn, April 8, 2009)?
