G20 Agents Provocateurs
Danny | 15.05.2009 15:20 | G20 London Summit
If anyone at the G20 witnessed 'violent protestors' passing through police lines after flashing ID, can they please post it here. Consider making a formal complaint to the IPCC or contact 
info@tombrake.co.uk if you wish to remain anonymous.
info@tombrake.co.uk if you wish to remain anonymous.
This latest article is subtely biased but it does contain the basic facts-
"
An MP who was among protesters corralled behind police lines at the G20 demonstrations has called for an investigation into whether the police deliberately incited the crowds.
Tom Brake, Lib Dem for Carshalton and Wallington, says he was informed by people in the crowd that two men, believed to be two plainclothes police officers, had thrown bottles at the police and had encouraged others to do the same.
Shortly afterwards they then passed through a police cordon after presenting their ID cards, he said.
The MP raised the fresh allegations when he gave evidence before Parliament’s joint committee on human rights on Tuesday.
He said: “When I was in the middle of the crowd, two people came over to me and said ‘There are people over there who we believe are policemen and who have been encouraging the crowd to throw things at the police’.
“But when the crowd became suspicious of the men and accused them of being police officers, the pair approached the police line and passed through after showing some form of identification.”
Mr Brake was following the protests as a legal observer when violence broke out between police and protesters in Moorgate.
He was kept inside the police cordon for five hours, along with bystanders, peaceful protesters and even those in need of medical attention.
At the time he called the situation “one of the scariest experiences of my life”.
Mr Brake has produced a draft report of his experiences for the human rights committee, after receiving written statements from people in the crowd.
The Independent Police Complaints Commission said it had no record of complaints involving the use of police agents provocateurs.
A Metropolitan Police spokesman said: “We would never deploy officers in this way or condone such behaviour.”
The use of plain-clothes officers in crowd situations is considered a vital tactic for gathering evidence.
"
"
An MP who was among protesters corralled behind police lines at the G20 demonstrations has called for an investigation into whether the police deliberately incited the crowds.
Tom Brake, Lib Dem for Carshalton and Wallington, says he was informed by people in the crowd that two men, believed to be two plainclothes police officers, had thrown bottles at the police and had encouraged others to do the same.
Shortly afterwards they then passed through a police cordon after presenting their ID cards, he said.
The MP raised the fresh allegations when he gave evidence before Parliament’s joint committee on human rights on Tuesday.
He said: “When I was in the middle of the crowd, two people came over to me and said ‘There are people over there who we believe are policemen and who have been encouraging the crowd to throw things at the police’.
“But when the crowd became suspicious of the men and accused them of being police officers, the pair approached the police line and passed through after showing some form of identification.”
Mr Brake was following the protests as a legal observer when violence broke out between police and protesters in Moorgate.
He was kept inside the police cordon for five hours, along with bystanders, peaceful protesters and even those in need of medical attention.
At the time he called the situation “one of the scariest experiences of my life”.
Mr Brake has produced a draft report of his experiences for the human rights committee, after receiving written statements from people in the crowd.
The Independent Police Complaints Commission said it had no record of complaints involving the use of police agents provocateurs.
A Metropolitan Police spokesman said: “We would never deploy officers in this way or condone such behaviour.”
The use of plain-clothes officers in crowd situations is considered a vital tactic for gathering evidence.
"
Danny
Homepage:
http://www.suttonguardian.co.uk/news/4366030.Brake_calls_for_investigation_into_police_G20_action/
Comments
Hide the following 4 comments
Biased how?
18.05.2009 09:28
What's "biased" about this piece, Danny? Seems pretty straight to me.
Norvello
Subtle Bias
18.05.2009 11:03
"
A Metropolitan Police spokesman said: “We would never deploy officers in this way or condone such behaviour.” The use of plain-clothes officers in crowd situations is considered a vital tactic for gathering evidence.
"
The second statement is obviously a unattributed quote from the same cop who made the first quote. The same police force who claim they would never do this, despite 'respectable' witnesses that they just did, is the same police force that claimed they would never hit innocent civilians, and lied about a 'hail of bottles' on Tomlinson. The quote assumes the honesty of proven liars.
To the casual reader, it appears it is widely accepted by the public that it is a vital tactic that the police using undercover cops in a crowd, a fact I hope you'd dispute.
Danny
Ah, I see
18.05.2009 13:31
Fair point about the unattributed final line. They should have attributed that.
But it seems daft to expect the reporter to have inserted "the police lied..." or something next to the official police quote. It's an official response from the police - it's what they're saying, not necessarily the truth. And, if, it's proven untrue, it's more ammo later.
The vast majority of the article was taken up with the MP's concern, based on something he heard. There's just one sentence from the police. I wouldn't regard that as a pro-police bias, even subtle pro-police bias, at all. Quite the opposite.
Norvello
What is not said is being said
18.05.2009 19:45
The main point though, the reason I posted this, is this is one golden opportunity to have violent undercover police tactics exposed nationally due to the quality of the witnesses ( a New York Times reporter and a Liberal MP are not the usual witnesses and not so easily smeared as the rest of us in mainstream terms).
I sat through the BBC parliament testimony of the IPCC guy Hardwick yesterday, and it was fascinating. If I was a future historian it wouldn't be apparent that these tactics are well known and the questioning MPs weren't complicit. A few more eye witness testimonies of murderous undercover police cunts crossing lines would be illuminating of the current sorry state we live in.
Danny