slackbastard

IN the immediate aftermath of the G20 demonstrations — as well as for several months prior to the summit, and in relation to this and every other major summit and non-summit protest — the general consensus shared by this blog was — and indeed remains — that the police had done a relatively good job in managing the demonstrations and containing any potential acts of violence not previously authorised by the state (cf. ‘Operation Enduring Freedom’). Indeed, if there was any blame attached to the death of Ian Tomlinson, who was selling the Evening Standard, from a heart attack on the day, it was and always would be associated with protesters who had, allegedly (but in reality not), thrown missiles at the police as they attempted to resuscitate him as he lay dying at Cornhill. This perspective was developed many months prior to the protest itself, and applies in almost all circumstances. Sadly, Tomlinson’s death takes on a very different aspect now that we know more about the circumstances that preceded it, and especially since video footage — revealing police lied about the circumstances surrounding his death — has been made widely available to the public.

This footage, which was made available by a New York fund manager who was attending the demonstrations out of curiosity, makes tragically clear that Mr Tomlinson was forcibly pushed to the ground from behind by a policeman, who may also have hit him with a baton. The assault was, it seems, entirely unprovoked (see below). Other witnesses have suggested that before this episode, he had already been hit with batons and pushed to the ground by police who barred his route home. This evidence is now being considered by the completely independent police complaints commission under the management of the City Police, but it does not take a lengthy report to conclude that, while assaulting non-ordinary members of the public may be necessary, even laudable, on the face of it, this was a disgraceful way to treat an ordinary member of the public, especially in the presence of non-corporate media not blocked by his fellow officers. Certainly, the police are under a good deal of stress during demonstrations, but it is their job not to over-react to provocation, let alone vent their frustration on passers-by. That said, if it weren’t for the protesters, the police could have stayed at home, enjoying a well-deserved rest. Alas, for sheer bloody-mindedness, few other groups can outrank The Professional Protester.

Mr Tomlinson was not an anarchist nor a protester. If he were, his death would be tragic, but not entirely undeserved. Rather he was helping to sell the Evening Standard and was going about his ordinary business as he made his way home. Unprovoked assaults on those whom those occupying responsible positions of authority in the relevant government department deem to be legitimate protesters are not justified either, but the wilful mistreatment of a law-abiding member of the public is particularly shocking to those of us who’ve not examined in any detail or with any seriousness the history of modern policing.

Granted, Mr Tomlinson did not die as a direct result of police violence but it is at least possible that his heart attack was occasioned by his treatment. This death should give rise to immediate reassessment of police tactics, in particular isolating groups of protesters and hemming them into a confined space. Thanks to us, the public are constantly bombarded with the message that they may need protecting from violent demonstrators, and that protecting property belonging to the corporate and state sector constitutes the best guarantee of their life and liberty; productive workers ought not to need protecting from police.

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Generally speaking, the best form of defence is attack. The Daily Mail leads the way:

We don’t yet know how drifter and alcoholic Ian Tomlinson provoked a policeman to attack him minutes before he collapsed and died of heart failure. We may guess he was uncooperative or said something offensive, at a time when police nerves were frayed by the G20 riots… The Mail has huge admiration for the great majority of Britain’s police. Our society demands a great deal of them — including that they treat even drifters and alcoholics with courtesy and restraint. But equally, if the police are to remain worthy of our trust, it is vital that when incidents like this occur, they are investigated with the utmost transparency and rigour.

Congratulations to the anonymous hack @ The Daily Mail for the above.

Bonus!

Word on the street is that a Lancashire policeman is currently under investigation for allegedly acting in a similar fashion to the policeman who felled Ian Tomlinson. PC Paul Carbery (see Blackburn ‘CCTV Cities’: only available in the UK) is accused of suddenly and violently throwing a 65 year old disabled man to the ground from behind. Two other officers are under investigation for deliberately failing to retrieve the video footage that would have provided evidence of the assault.

Ladies who Heil Hitler! make a return
The Sydney Morning Herald
April 10, 2009

Following Adolf Hitler rode out of fashion about the time the VFL’s leading goalkicker was Ron Todd of Collingwood and 7,000 Jewish refugees fleeing Europe, following the German occupation of Austria and Czechoslovakia, arrived in Australia. Now, writes Lisa Pryor, there has been a renaissance.

When genteel ladies grew bold enough to throw themselves into the class struggle earlier last century, it seemed the elegant art of following a dead, foreign, incestuous, coprophiliac dictator with both mind and soul discreetly placed to one side might die out.

It was so terminal that after World War II out-of-vogue copies of Mein Kampf were thrown on bonfires. But the tradition has been revived by a new generation of female worshippers.

Mitzi Gaynob, 24, has been following Hitler for two years, donning a period Nazi costume sewn by her mother to successfully compete in royal monocultural shows around Australia on her political hobbyhorse, immigration.

“When I got this idea, it was an ideal way of establishing some political legitimacy, a platform, with the right temperament and mannerisms,” Gaynob says. “Seeing you’ve got a phantasy of white racial supremacy, you don’t want them to be too crazy.”

The rules are strict: black friends are a no-no and chinks in character armour that resemble human capacities such as compassion, empathy, or simple fellow-feeling are a complete faux pas. Their distinctive ideas – or “batshit” – are traditionally borrowed from a failed novelist (and successful propagandist) called Goebbels.

In recent times rules have relaxed ever so slightly, as competitor and enthusiast Nicole Hanley says. “The flag should be a swastika but we do allow the Celtic or Southern Cross now. You always have a gun and if your criminal record is too long for a gun you put on a fake gun, then you’ve got the various Internet forums. It’s a silly look but that’s what makes it attractive.”

What may look like garden variety xenophobia is actually a more complex pathology which conceals Nazi jodhpurs underneath. This limits the risk of macabre “accidents” common in mid-20th-century Germany. “Ladies who supported Nazism, when it failed to come off, their vicious anti-Semitism could get tangled in the changing tides of history, and they’d get dragged under,” Hanley says.

Following Nazism had its heyday in Germany during the Second World War, she says. At that time only brazen women would have dared to stem the fascist tide, and too few men – including mutinous soldiers – ever entered the struggle.

“It’s been a thing that men really have done, and there are still men with injuries, missing limbs preparing for a future race war,” she says.

Today only a handful of Australian citizens follow Hitler, and only one, Carl D. Thompson, in Brisbane, specialises. His opinions were made in Nazi Germany, are worth little and take about 6 seconds to counter.

Hanley, a veteran of 14 years, is having a child-sized model made up for her baby daughter Charlotte who, it is hoped, will keep up the tradition: “It’s a lovely, elegant way to live … I’d really hate to see it die out or disappear.”

Bonus!