Vigil Video at YouTube:  http://www.youtube.com/user/dalinian61?gl=GB&hl=en-GB

The death of Ian Tomlinson at the hands of riot police during the London G20 protests on 01 April 09 was unusual because it happened in public, and was photographed and videoed by members of the public. Nearly all killings at the hands of the police occur while the victims are in custody, concealed from the public gaze, and hardly ever garner such publicity from the mainstream media.

"In 1969 David Oluwale became the first black person to die in police custody in Britain. Many others have died since then. None of the police officers involved have been convicted of these deaths. In this documentary, the families of these victims ask 'Why not?'
I N J U S T I C E documents the horrific loss of life at the hands of the state and it's attempts to cover up these killings. The British police have been responsible for hundreds of deaths and have walked free.
The families of the dead want justice and they will not stop until they have got it."
Synopsis of "I N J U S T I C E", 2001 -  http://www.injusticefilm.co.uk/synopsis.html

There has been no improvement in police behaviour in the last eight years, but countless attempts by Police Federation lawyers to prevent "I N J U S T I C E" being screened (which stopped me seeing it at the Ritzy, Brixton). You can now watch this chilling and uplifting documentary online at  http://www.injusticefilm.tv

The unconscionable slaying of Ian Tomlinson has proved to be the catalyst for coalescing a wide range of trade unionists, anti-war activists, campaigners against deaths in custody and others who want to oppose police violence and to defend our civil liberties, into the United Campaign against Police Violence.  http://www.againstpoliceviolence.org.uk

"A broad coalition of victims of police violence, together with their representatives, has recently founded The United Campaign Against Police Violence (UCAPV). Supporters so far comprise campaigners from United Families and Friends Campaign, RMT (London Region), Public and Commercial Services Union, University and College Lecturers Union, the newly-formed Servicemens Union, John McDonnell MP, Jeremy Corbyn MP, Socialist Workers' Party, Stop the War/Gaza coalition, Green Party and G20 Meltdown."
United Campaign against Police Violence on Facebook -  http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=162039415042

In the run up to their first national demo against police violence, London UCaPV activists held a solemn vigil for the victims of police homicide at the heart of British policing – under the revolving "New Scotland Yard" sign so beloved of news gathering crews. Fresh lilies rested on the lid of a real coffin, to which was affixed a brass plaque reading "FOR ALL OF OUR LOVED ONES WHO DIED IN POLICE CUSTODY" – within which a reflected image of the NSY sign revolved. Dressed in a black suit and top hat, Chris Knight made good use of a megaphone to inform passers-by (and the police) of the reasons behind the vigil, intoning the names of a small subset of the hundreds of people killed by the police. Moved by memories of the late great Comandante Joe, I googled the lyrics of a Clash song and skoke them as a poem, even as groups of cops passed us by.

"Know your rights – all three of them
Number 1
You have the right not to be killed
Murder is a crime!
Unless it was done
By a Policeman
Or an aristocrat
Know your rights!"
"Know Your Rights" by The Clash
-  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Know_Your_Rights
-  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Clash

Despite the proximity of police sentries armed with submachine guns, astoundingly not a single copper even approached the vigil. Whether this bodes well for a non-violent policing of Saturday's national STOP POLICE VIOLENCE! demonstration – which aims to completely surround New Scotland Yard in a citizens-kettling-the-cops tactic – only time will tell.

Up the Revolution,

Tim Dalinian Jones


Footnotes

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