What a shocking and disgusting story - but unfortunately typical of police behaviour nowadays towards lawful and peaceful demonstrators.

I experienced yet another example of their behaviour last Thursday (albeit less traumatic than that experienced by Gwyn).

I was amongst a small group of cyclists peacefully - and lawfully - cycling through the streets of London to the Grosvenor Hotel in Park Lane (where the Excel arms dealers were having a self-congratulatory meal) to register our completely peaceful, non threatening and non violent protest against the arms trade, when we were suddenly penned in by police from all sides. I was refused ‘permission’ to leave this unlawful temporary ‘prison’ on the road and was told to ask a ‘stripe’ (a ‘senior officer’ apparently). I sought out a sergeant who was standing next to an Inspector with a megaphone and politely asked him if I could be allowed to leave. His response was to scream at me to get away and he proceeded to aggressively shove me backwards, pushing me onto the ground, falling heavily backwards onto my bicycle. He had the nerve to accuse me of pushing him and I was surrounded by other police officers, one of whom filmed me close to my face in a deliberately provocative and intimidating fashion as I was trying to get to my feet. I wasn't hurt (other than minor bruising), but this sudden display of violence out of the blue left me quite shocked. I thought how cowardly the sergeant’s behaviour was - lashing out at a peaceful, non-aggressive and law abiding 60yr old, who he knew couldn’t - and wouldn’t - strike back.

My solidarity goes out to Gwyn and her husband and to all the other good people who participated in actions against the arms trade at Excel.

We will not be intimidated by police violence!

Freeman

For starters, I think all those of us that feel we have been subjected to unnecessary / unreasonable force or disrespectful conduct by officers of the law have a moral duty to report their behaviour to the Independent Police Complaints Commission  http://www.ipcc.gov.uk/

In more serious cases, one should consider taking further legal action, once professional legal advice has been sought.

In light of these examples of disgusting police behaviour, and their outrageous uncontrolled violence to protesters during Climate Camp, how do you feel about the new plan for widespread issue of Tasers to police. The officers who are carrying them will not need firearms training and the only excuse they need for using them is that the officer feels he/she was in danger. The person they use them against does not have to be armed.

Now, what happens when front line officers are primed by their commanding officers with lies, as happened at climate camp, that the protesters include violent anarchists who are armed and out to injure them. You've got shit scared, tazer -armed cops facing a noisy group of protesters.. what happened next?

Seen this?

 http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2007/09/381317.html

Read the comments, write to Kerry, Bush (ha!) anyone... For God's sake, don't let us sleepwalk into fascism.

No one's anonymous those days. Don't make the mistake of believing you are.

You are for me but certainly not for GCHQ, NSA, Mossad.

... NEVER anonomous here ...

.. childs play to log and trace IP's etc.

If you include your email ad. - thinking innocently of your 'rights' to free speech - then be prepared for A LOT of spam if you step outside the remit of this left gatekeeper site.

Having said that, everyone should consider their response to being tazared, repressed by fascistic policing etc ... baring in mind that the ordinary plod is both unremarkable and NOT responsible for tactics and political decisions.

Revenge is only meaningful if it strikes at the heart of darkness and the lost art of forgiving and understanding the indiscretions of those foot soilders/police should be reawakened in every soul crying out for justice.

If me or mine are tazared, I will seek out the appropriate targets and act without further comment or clue.

Then again, I can not believe that I would stand idily by watching as did those amerikan students, as bullies and emotionally retarded camp guards act out their orders/fantasies.

Was on utube watching vids and commentating on the kid who got tasered for questioning John Kerry in the u.s.

a few ppl comments say they would never go to u.s. ext, as police state, and glad they are living here.

I was just thinking about the way the polis behaved on thursday at the dorchester, no means badly(in comparrasion to how they do behave) but we were penned in and escorted to and fro, etc, some people denied access.
Plus this brave woman, comradely thought in solidarity with her, and everyone fighting back, and also thinking about the way Ramparts was treated by polis(was not there)

Add to that the on-going parliment square resistance e.g the sunday picnics and recent behaviour re putting nelson mandela behind bars( most of u knows what i mean, the statue, and hiding of protesters, etc) and the big list of how the s.o.c.p.a. has been used. - btw, when the polis kept hassling us , only verbally and constant photography, i ended up replying to one about him insisting he was doing his job.
pointed out there was a 'serious organised crime' across the road - whereby the 'masters of war' were spending some of their profits on immoral(and sometimes breaking, directly or indirectly, laws, esp international ones and snactions, etc) buying and selling of arms needed under capitalism for all the ensuing wars,etc
that he was a 'police'
that he should 'act' and arrest them


and add to that, the fact that john bowden should really have been out of prison months ago, and was in an open prison having w/ends at home, and even before that, was working in the community with vunerable people, so he had served his maximun recommended scentence, and proved he was no danger/

yet was taken, despite breaking no laws or rules, back to a higher cat locked prison, cos of the report that Matt Stillman (now under investigation) wrote, calling the ABC prisoner support groups - terrorists WTF!! and John refused to denounce them.
also sps and individual screws, social workers et, may have wanted revenge and were being petty etc to punish John further - this time for all his effective critism of prison life, exposing racism and brutality,etc in the system, showing solidarity with other cons and always fighting back, using heaps diff means,

yet only hear today he is finally being moved, and to a prison miles away, etc, etc

like other posters point out, what hapens in u.s. happens here......

like the poster above, i try not to be violent on demos actions anymore cos can be counter-productive, tho polis do get pissed sometimes when i ask them to join us and stop betraying their class, etc,etc

but would like to think, that if i saw some poor kid - or anyone - i would show solidarity and do some action to defends us,etc, not just sit there and let him bee shackled

hope this makes sense, been up all night :-)

just got so many answers to those commentators on utube who say glad they live in england, etc and not a police state like u.s.

capitalism and the creeping fascism is worldwide, and the fighback should be too

in solidarity