I’ve had this photo for a while now, and it still amazes me. For anyone else who was at the recent G20 demo’s in London, this kind of sums up the entire event from a policing point of view. And this wasn’t even the worst of it. On the first night, I witnessed an officer (with badge number covered up of course…) drag a bunch of people from a peaceful situation at the Climate Camp, and then stand there with one other officer and a medic and laugh at an unconscious girl on the floor. I think ‘Fucking Hippie’ was the exact phrase he used when we asked for his assistance. But listening to the reports in the aftermath of the demo, a lot of people witnessed a lot worse.
It has been extremely interesting watching the media in the weeks following the demonstrations. For once, the media (or at least certain elements within the media) is taking a stance against the authorities. But in my opinion this is all too little too late. I have been on numerous demonstrations where we have been charged by the police in unprovoked circumstances, beaten with truncheons, and treated with very little, or no, respect for our safety or right to assemble.
And is this all a bit too little, too late? The media have turned around to focus on police brutality at a time when the state is using 12 years of Anti-Terror legislation and preparation to oppress the media using things like Section 14 of the Public Order Act 1986 to stop reporting at protests. Also, section 76 of the Counter-Terrorism Act 2008 is about to become law, leaving photographers open to arrest for taking photographs of the police.
It’s just a shame that it took a tragedy such as the death of Ian Tomlinson to spark a change in the mainstream press. Let’s hope that this isn’t the beginning and the end of media coverage of police brutality – and the beginning of a new era of oppression of citizens by the state.
