Protesters DO get beaten : Simon Perry: Schemes, dreams & trivia

"You won't win silver medals at the Olympic Games unless you're the very, very best." - Brendan Foster, BBC1 (source:Colemanballs, Private Eye)

Protesters DO get beaten

28th November 2006 by Simon

Amazing isn’t it? … the rest of the population are now starting to understand that the police aren’t …. how shall we put it …. very friendly to people who take part in protests that they police.

Many of us who have been at marches before will be well aware that given an area without the gaze of the general public, the police will act in violent ways against people peacefully protesting.

The worst example I saw of this was during the May Day demonstration (the one where some of the demonstrators were held for hours against their will at the junction of Regents Street and Oxford Street) where a number of men and women in their early twenties were sitting on the ground, chanting something inoffensive. The police beat them with their batons - without provocation. It was a shocking and horrible sight - one that shifted my view of law and order in the UK.

The rank & file of the UK experienced this during the pro-hunting demonstration. From the footage I saw it did look like the protesters were being antagonistic, but perhaps we didn’t see the provocation.

News broke yesterday of the release of the report into the complaints was released.

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