Demand freedom to protest

Submitted by Anon on 9 April, 2009 - 2:40 Author: Dan Katz

On Wednesday 1 April thousands of anti-G20 demonstrators protesters converged on the City of London in a series of protests which aimed to highlight capitalist responsibility for climate change, environmental destruction, poverty and war.

The press and police had been warning of the possibility of “extreme violence” especially from the demonstration destined for the Bank of England and the police had promised to meet any law-breaking with great ruthlessness.

On the day the police surrounded many hundreds of protesters using a technique known as a “kettle” — forcibly keeping protesters hemmed inside a small area for hours. On television police were seen lashing out with metal batons, and protesters were seen bleeding and being battered.

As the day wore on, skirmishes and fights broke out as demonstrators began to gather demanding the release of those caught up in the kettle. The riot police with dogs moved in.

Caught up in the fighting was a 47-year old worker, Ian Tomlinson, who collapsed and died. Following a police post mortem, officials declared Tomlinson had died from, “a sudden heart attack while on his way home from work.”

The state’s version of events began to be challenged after a number of credible independent witnesses came forward claiming that the police had caused Tomlinson’s death by pushing or hitting him. Freelance photographer Anna Branthwaite states she saw Ian Tomlinson, “rushed from behind by a riot officer.” Amiri Howe recalled seeing Tomlinson being hit “near the head” with a police baton.

On Thursday 2 April an emergency meeting was called in east London to discuss how to respond to Tomlinson’s death and to begin a process of seeking out people who may have witnessed what happened to Ian Tomlinson.

That process initiated by activists and people who participated in the G20 demonstrations has ensured that the media has begun to re-examine the police version of events and that witnesses have come forward.

The 100-strong meeting decided to march from the Bank of England to Bethnal Green police station where many of those arrested during the protests had been taken. The demonstration took place at short notice on the morning of Saturday 4 April. Protesters demanded an independent inquiry into Tomlinson’s death, an end to brutal police tactics against protesters and the freedom to protest.

One of the organisers expressed their key concern: “It is important that we took a stand against police brutality, we must not let this issue be swept aside and forgotten.”

what we say

The police are not neutral. They are available to be used brutally, if necessary, against those who threaten capitalist law and order.

The police have a poor record of solving crimes that matter to working class people — house breaking and street violence, for example, have very low clear-up rates.

But the police are always present in great force to meet protesters and strikers.

Clearly all official channels should be used to bring those responsible for the death of Ian Tomlison to justice. But we should not believe that these mechanisms are even handed and fair.

Those that marched last Saturday were right to demonstratively raise the issue of police violence and to insist on the importance of this killing.

To curtail police power and to restrict their ability to act against us we propose:

• Abolition of special police units (riot squads and the political police, the Special Branch) and the secret police (MI5 and MI6)

• Disarming of the police

• Placing the police under the control of directly elected committees which have the right to control budgets, and set parameters for police operations, and the ability to hire and fire senior police.

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