brian haw violently assaulted then arrested at downing street today

rikki | 12.01.2008 22:55 | SOCPA | Repression | London

during the freedom to protest assembly this afternoon, brian haw (who was peacefully filming events in whitehall) was violently attacked by a territorial support group policeman who lashed out at him, smashing his camera into his face and causing a deep cut. police then arrested brian for an unspecified public order offence and further assaulted him in a police van.

a bloody-faced and frightened brian haw (minus hat)

a number of people were milling around the road outside downing street where a group of around a dozen had laid down with linked arms in the road.

without warnings the territorial support group moved in and began violently pushing and man-handling people to the pavement. one young woman was grabbed round the throat and dragged. others were pushed from behind. brian was miving backwards towards the pavement with a camera to his face when officer U1019 lunged at him deliberately and without provocation. the blow was aimed directly at brian's face and pushed his camera into his cheek causing a deep wound.

shortly afterwards, brian was snatched from the crowd and taken to a police van, from which witnesses heard him screaming. after several minutes he was dragged out of the van looking very alarmed and frightened, and taken to another cell van where he was driven to belgravia police station.

supporters there are worried for his safety, but after an hour of no news, they were told that he was being taken to see the prison doctor. there are concerns about his treatment during that hour.

steve jago, on seeing the snatch, pushed forward to try to help brian, but was immediately pounced on by four heavy tsg thugs who violently dragged him to the ground, sat on him, and aggressively hand-cuffed him before apprently arresting him for an unknown offence.

in an afternoon of filming, at no time did i see a single act of violence towards the police from the peaceful protestors, and yet police used completely disproportionate and aggressive tactics to disperse and control peaceful sit-downs and blockades. i saw a 61 year old woman being dragged wihout any heed for 'health and safety' and dumped on the pavement. another elderly man was thrown over his bicycle (despite having recently had an accident leaving him in considerable pain)

there were several other arrests this afternoon, mainly for obstruction and public order offences. one person was arrested for 'organising an unauthorised protest'

attached photo was taken by nuj journalist terence bunch and remains his copyright although he has kindly allowed publication here - for any commercial usgae please contact him via
www.terencebunch.co.uk

i'll be editing a short film of this afternoon soon

rikki
e-mail: rikkiindymedia[aT]gmail(d0t)com
Homepage: http://www.socpa-movie.blogspot.com

Additions

late update

13.01.2008 00:56

steve jago has been released from belgravia and bailed to return next month. he has a big black eye, very painful jaw and his right embow is swelling up and very painful. no charges have been laid on him yet, but police are considering charges of obstruction, participating in or organising an unlawful demo, and criminal damage.

steve believes there were 7 others held at belgravia who were arrested this afternoon.

brian is still being held, and a forensic medical officer was called to him. supporters are extremely concerned about his treatment at the hands of the police apart from the initial assault by U1019. he has only been charged with a section 5 public order offence, but after seeing the FME he was then in a police interview.

rikki

further update

13.01.2008 17:34

brian is back in parliament square, shaken and bloodied. apart from the time spent inside the police van at whitehall during which witnesses heard his screams and he alleges police held him in torture positions and beat his testicles, he was then subject to further abuse and humiliation at belgravia police station, during which other prisoners heard his screams.

in the end he was only charged with a simple section 4 public order offence and released around 1.30am after being further 'interviewed' by cid:

[[4A Intentional harassment, alarm or distress]

[(1) A person is guilty of an offence if, with intent to cause a person harassment, alarm or distress, he—

(a) uses threatening, abusive or insulting words or behaviour, or disorderly behaviour, or

(b) displays any writing, sign or other visible representation which is threatening, abusive or insulting,

thereby causing that or another person harassment, alarm or distress.]

given that brian had just been viciously assaulted by an officer, and that the senior officer didn't remove that officer from duty or treat brian seriously, i'd have thought paragraph 3 will be shown to be pertinent:

[(3) It is a defence for the accused to prove—

(b) that his conduct was reasonable.]

brian is in court tomorrow at southern crown court in a challenge to a 'contempt of court' ruling made by judge nicholas evans originally at westminster magistrates' during another trial. the case sets legal precedent as brian had to go to the high court first to win the right to appeal a 'contempt of court' allegation - there was no clear route to do this and the high court had to give judgement first on the process for this to happen. judge evans is on a warning that he may be summonsed to the court to give evidence.

another detainee at belgravia was rob little. he recently walked into marylebone police station with a dossier of evidence of war crimes, and after further meetings with him, chris coverdale (war law expert), and others, there will be a press conference announcement on tuesday that the anti-terror and war crime unit is actually launching an investigation into possible breaches by tony blair and the then attorney-general goldsmith. police pounced on rob at the protest yesterday and arrested him under suspicion of being an organiser of an unauthorised protest. he was also interviewed by cid, held for over twelve hours and let out after 4am, and refused food during this time as they didn't have anything vegan.

there were several others arrested, for minor public order offences and socpa breaches. it sounds as though police were at first reluctant to press any socpa charges, but then had a change of heart and threw them in before rebailing most of the defendants until dates in mid-february.

steve jago seems to have a hole in his elbow and his face is swollen with a black eye.

rikki

another update

14.01.2008 00:03

one thing i forgot to mention earlier is that although brian has only been charged with section four, the belgravia police took it upon themselves to take his camera and film "for evidential purposes". whether this is to see what evidence brian has on officer U1019 (who struck and wounded him), or whether it's to see if it shows evidence of brian's alleged section four breach, i'll leave it up to you to imagine.

an infamous previous occasion when police took brian's stuff was may 23rd 2006, when 78 of them turned up in the middle of the night to seize his placards in parliament square. since then, commissioner blair has been caught lying twice about the cost of that operation. first he said it was £7000, then he admitted it was £28000, and a year later it emerged it was actually £110,000. since that night, the courts have agreed with brian that the operation was an "illegal seizure". but his placards including several 'banksy' artworks worth tens of thousands of pounds, are still rotting in a container at hendon police college.

ps could any kind indymedia folk consider separating this thread out into additions and comments? - it may be helpful for any msm directed to this story. cheers

rikki

film of saturday's assembly now posted at...

14.01.2008 09:49

...

http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2008/01/389393.html in quicktime format
and www://publish.indymedia.org.uk/en/2008/01/389395.html as wmv

doug also reported and filmed at

http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2008/01/389291.html and

http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2008/01/389322.html
with a tea-party report at

http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2008/01/389337.html

rikki
mail e-mail: rikkiindymedia[aT]gmail[d0t]com
Homepage: http://www.socpa-movie.blogspot.com

correction - brian wasn't charged with anything!

14.01.2008 19:30

brian was arrested under s.4 POA for threatening words and/or behaviour, after he was smacked in the face by the TSG thug. he was then manhandled into a van, and further arrested for assaulting a police officer at that point.

he was further arrested, at the beginning of his taped interview, for participating in an unauthorised demonstration.

he denied all 3 offences via written statement, and made no comment to questions asked.

he was released on bail at 3.10am, pending further investigation of these offences. he was NOT charged with any offences.

can Rikki please correct the account given. the information i have provided above is true, i was representing brian during his time in custody.

in solidarity,

Fahim

fahim
mail e-mail: fahim111@hotmail.com

URGENT! The deadline for self assessment is approaching

16.01.2008 09:02

For those who not already know. The government have been fielding a public consultation on SOCPA. However the tenor of their literature sounds like they want to extend SOCPA powers for demonstartions rather than repeal them.

Forms can be obtained online and returned either by e-mail or post and must be in by the 17th of Jan:

http://www.repeal-socpa.info/consultation.htm

http://www.repeal-socpa.info/

The Twat in the Bowler Hat

Comments

Hide the following 51 comments

Any footage ?

12.01.2008 23:48

As you were filming all afternoon.

Interested

Home Secretary is responsible.

13.01.2008 00:27

The Police are a disciplined force who only act under the instructions of the Home Secretary. They could lose their pensions if disobedient, so do not go and bash some poor lonely Constable working his beat.

Talibanwr

reply to 'interested'

13.01.2008 00:39

i'll be posting a short film of the afternoon's events later.

as far as footage of the incident is concerned, be sure that hypothetically speaking, if i did have clear footage of the assault, a copy of it would by now be in a safe place, and i would be taking legal advice whether to post it on indymedia prior to any trial.

i wonder who 'interested' is? the thought does occur to me that there's a small chance it might be a sweating copper who's career might just be going down the drain when he reflects on what he did this afternoon, in which case, i'm certainly not going to give a clear answer.

rikki

Utter disgrace

13.01.2008 00:44

A man who peacefully bears witness in front of Parliament to the war crimes of the Blair and Brown government for nearly seven years, and this is how he is treated by the police? The fascist police state is truly upon us.

police state

Disgraceful

13.01.2008 01:05

That is absolutely disgraceful, and in all fairness ought to merit the frontpage of a broadsheet.
Deeply concerned about the way this country is going.

N/A
mail e-mail: N/A
Homepage: http://N/A

Going ???

13.01.2008 03:24

Going Gone.
An 8 stone girl/woman was recently beaten in sheffield by police, all on camera, all on regional news.
She was dragged eventually to a police vehicle, after the assault, with her knickers literally around her ankles by these brave coppers.
She has been fined and found guilty of criminal damage charges whilst South Yorkshire Police have been proudly spouting their innocense, and that the camera does not always tell the full story.
The policemen who stood by and let this prick punch this girl several times whilst on the floor are not men and never will be.
Zeig Heil!

daggle

Police are responsible.

13.01.2008 05:24

Individual coppers can choose to use disproportionate violence or not. They are not all as bad as each other though, some are thugs who would be better employed trying to catch murderers than assaulting peaceful protesters while others do seem to be more in control of themselves. As the prominent Menezes case has shown, and there are many others over the years, the police are allowed to kill with impunity so why would they be at all worried about roughing people up? Furthermore, experience has shown that the courts generally tend to ignore collective police perjury so coppers never get done for their acts of violence.

Itsme

We Love Brian

13.01.2008 09:51

He's like a modern day Superman, with a hat (usually). Muchos respect bro, I hope you get better soon. @)

Yarrow

Purpose?

13.01.2008 10:43

What was the purpose of this attack on the protestors, and Brian in particular?

I can only think that it must be to intimidate us. It seems unlikely that officer U1019 didn't know the identity of Brian or that his assault was a 'mistake' (not that this makes it any better of course, but it might seem less sinister). Brian is a widely respected icon of peaceful protest. If they're not afraid of the backlash from assualting him, then they're not going to be too worried about lashing out at a 'regular' protestor. Is this the message they're trying to convey?

I could be totally wrong, and I hope I am, but is the timing of this new wave of state repression and police intimidation a coinicidence? The economy is faltering and it's only a matter of time before the whole house of cards collapses. It seems to me like they're trying to stamp out dissent before the majority of the population become dissenters. I hope I'm wrong

Rising Tension

Does Justice Matter

13.01.2008 12:14

We all know the sort of sick pervert it takes to become Home Secretary. Only those who get intense personal gratification from going to bed each night, knowing that they hold innocent honest people in prison when guilty people convicted of the same crime have been released, can accept that Position. It is clear that all Politicians are corrupt degenerates who cannot stand honesty, so honest people have to stay in prison for far longer than the criminals.

It should be quite clear that sort of sick mind is going to try to change Society. They want the sort of violence there is in Afghanistan so they can have the blood letting Police they need for it to be "a healthier Society" with the Rich manhunting the Poor who resist.

The Labour Party have been taken over by Fascists, they take donation money from the Rich so cut the taxes on the Rich. Setting up all sorts of Privatisation strangleholds on the Community in order to give the Rich guaranteed fat index linked incomes from the privatisation investments the Rich make with the money that should have been taxed from them, and spent on the same things but by the Community.

As the Chancellor will not use taxation to control the Rich's mad rush to own the world, individuals must now do what they can to eliminate the Rich before Earth becomes uninhabitable.

You all know how corrupt British Law is, A gang of University Students can have a knife taken off them by one they threaten, and it was their intended victim who went to jail. The evidence here over Haw shows Police violence against peacefull protestors. There are no prosecutions against the Police. A new system of Law is needed, Have you looked at the rules governing Sharia Law? They want a high standard of proof before penalties are imposed. And what are their penalties for bearing false witness? Should they be imposed on Policemen? And University Students?

Perhaps one should make allowance for the incredibly stupid people who go into debt to pay for a devalued British University Degree? That the do that is strong evidence that they are unworthy of employment in any other position than a call center. A Degree has become a badge of stupidity. Though the clever ones went to University to have a good time on borrowed money that will be easily repaid, because by the time they are paid well enough to have to start repaying, inflation will have reduced the debt to chickenfeed.

Talibanwr

Why Am I Not Surprised

13.01.2008 12:17

I find it a bit shocking that I am not in the least bit surprised by this latest act of Police violence and intimidation. I hope Brian is OK and not too badly hurt or shaken up. Fingers crossed there is good warts and all video footage. Good Luck to all involved.

John
mail e-mail: http://plymouthtamarians.wordpress.com/
Homepage: http://talkingliberties.wordpress.com/

Policeman knew Brian

13.01.2008 12:40

The policeman who hit Brian was overheard saying he didn't agree with anything Brian stood for.

Andy

I just wonder ...

13.01.2008 14:54

... how many people will be, like me, initially moved for revenge?

I am not a pacifist, but eschew meningless violence aginst property and virtually ALL violence against the person ... lessthose occassions when defence is necessry.

If the state is provokatively AND VIOLENTLY attacking avowed PEACE protestors, is there not an element of that old fascistic/zionist trick of instigating an action tht will bring an expected response with which a whole new level of repression and tyrrany can be justified[sic]?

The best revenge for Brian and the people of Iraq et al would be to ensure a massive publicity campaign and an unswerving burning desire for justice to be delivered through the appropriate legal channels.

After that fails ...

jackslucid
mail e-mail: jackslucid'hotmail.com

Are you trying to smear these people?

13.01.2008 15:21

"how many people will be, like me, initially moved for revenge?"

None at all if my understanding of the people concerned is correct. They stand for the right to peacefully demonstrate.

Keep your little fantasies to yourself! Otherwise you may just get other people into deep shit.

The Shaking Head

STAND UP N SPEAK OUT...!

13.01.2008 15:42

brian haw violently assaulted then arrested at downing street today

I have been witness to many forms of brutality and violence dished out by the British State and their thugs who claim to be those with the job to uphold law and order those same people who collaborated with loyalists who went on to kill many an innocent victim of the troubles in Northern Ireland.

This left a lifelong inpression on me to do the right thing when I believed something to be wrong, having been a small child during the Battle of Bombay Street, Clonard, Belfast and seeing both my father and eldest brother being beaten and taken away and interned for nothing more than being Irish and from a background which was dispised by those in control of what we know to be the Province of Ulster.

I notice that this form of brutality has never gone away, we saw it in South Africa how the State dealt with the people who lived there and the oppressive regime that was there for so long, but we stood together and brought that regime crashing down system and brought it crashing down because we stood side by side with one another and spoke out.

We are now all witness to the regime in Iraq, we were lied to by those who are supposed to represent us like our former Prime Minister Tony Blair the lacky to the dispised Bush (There are stockpiles of weapons of mass destruction so we must invade to protect the world) Ha ha what a joker that Bush fella is the same president who has left those in New Orleans to fend for themselves after their disaster with the flooding. Did they find any of these weapons of mass destruction? No not even a cadbury's cream egg.

These leaders told us that Saddam was in league with Osama Bin Laden, yet this was also a load of belloni and when we took to the streets to protest over and over again people started to look and listen to what our lapdog Blair was doing for his fuhrer George W. Bush the insane dictator of the United States of America, they lied and lied again and all the while it was innocent civillians who died because of it these people who should be brought in as war criminals.

We have now had signed away our rights to assemble and to speak out on what we know is unjust and wrong and we have the State ordering its SS stormtroopers to do their bidding like we saw yesterday with the assaults by the police on several people including Brian Haw who should in my mind be given an OBE for his commitment to peace.

Until we the powerless take back the power from the powerful, they will continue to opress us, beat us and kill us and get away with it, that is something I will never live with or tolerate, our freedoms are quickly being denied us and cleared off like refuse on its way to a landfill site and the truth is I thought they had beaten me into never standing up or speaking out again, however I could not sit by and have another freedom denied me the freedom of assembly.

I hope Brian Haw doesn't let this assault by the police on his person destry his courageous campaign for peace, he truly is a true superhero.

I hope to see you all again standing up and speaking out in the future?

The Hackney Heckler.

PC 47372 Jester of the Clown Police Service.

This is about Brian

13.01.2008 16:09

I see the wearechange nutjobs are trying to divert attention away from Brian again (jumping on a bandwagon etc) by claiming to be key witnesses. I'm sick of these guys using Brian and whoever else they can to get exposure for themselves and playing the 'real victim' in the latest attack on Brian.

Only since the mainstream media has no choice but to report on Brian have these trendy wanabes climbed on board and attempted to hijack a very simple message with their insane ramblings.

Where were you 6, 5, 4, 3, 2 or even 1 year ago?

How can you protest against criminal wrong doings along side the likes of Brian Haw while wearing Gucci and Hugo Boss? They are not activists they are members worshipping at the cult of celebrity.

WeSeeThroughYou

WeAreBored

@ We Are Bored

13.01.2008 17:47

Are you seriously saying that the only people allowed to be activists are long timers? We really haven't got a chance then. I also didn't notice any Armani or Gucci on yesterday's march, werer you there?

All welcome

why do you attack?

13.01.2008 18:21

Dear WeAreBored,

why do attack people who seem to be trying to get the message out?

what have you done?

i've supported Brian, Maria & Co for a number of years and i've heard them speak very highly of WeAreChange UK.

have you managed to get an investigation started against bliar & co?

they're making waves, and maybe that's why you don't like them.

Love to all

why?

where do you get on?

13.01.2008 18:28

maybe if you'd had a camera smashed into your face by violent thugs, working for a protection racket, you might look a bit odd.

he's not fightened because the only thing to fear is fear itself. if you let go of the fear of poverty, crime & terrorism they lose power over you. take back your mind. the only way they can control 6 billion people is in their own minds. once a critical mass of people start to think for themselves they lose power, simple as.

concerned

torture light

13.01.2008 19:07

i used to hate the police & blair,etc. but it made me ill. so now, i try to love the police because they need it more than most. it's because they didn't get enough love as kids that they are like they are. they make it difficult though when they violently attack people expressing their right to free speech. the tsg are very disturbed people. most are ex army killers. i was in one of those vans yesterday and they've got an internal door to the cage. one of them was itching to attack me. at one point he partially opened the door and kept his hand on the door handle the whole time. he also whispered something to the other cops whilst hiding his face with his cap.
they should have black box recorders in all police vehicles as they were nice as pie back at the station.

love

The more they get away with, the worse they get

13.01.2008 19:44

They - being the establishment in general and the police in particular - have got away with passing a so-far unending stream of repressive legislation which is interpreted as harshly as possible, all the time eroding our freedom to speak, to assemble, to protest, to have privacy, to live in peace, to expect fair and reasonable police control of crowds, to be not-ashamed of our own nation.

Then they got away with the public killing of an innocent man while in custody - he was being held with his arms pinned by a heavy policeman on top of him, which amounts to "in custody." Neither the individual killer, who was hyped up with propaganda as much as any Al-q'aida operative, nor the commander who had sent him to kill with hate and fear instead of information, nor the overall boss "my position and pension are more valuable than your life" Blair received even a rebuke.

Is it then any wonder that they now increase the level of violence and intimidation against Brian Haw and other protesters? Probably they believe that what SOCPA and deprivation have been unable to stop can now be stopped by brute force and ignorance. They've previously broken and stolen Brian's things and roughed him up a bit. "Still there? Well, let's rough him up a lot. He wants to campaign? Right, let him suffer a campaign of terror. He claims free speech? Right, we claim a free punch. Who is going to stop us?"

Brian will recognise this quote:" Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, " In Greek and Hebrew the words "righteousness" and "justice" are from the same root.

Brian has been a leader in crying out for righteous justice, whilst our leaders and their police have committed themselves to violence and repression. Stand strong, people, for there's more to come.

Peter Smith
mail e-mail: irvin@lineone.net

Response to we are bored

13.01.2008 20:37

Dear we are bored, are you stating that yesterday's roaming around was all about Brian?

The Hackney Heckler

Violence can be useful

13.01.2008 20:39

Replying to the ultra pacifist fools above, if you came across a rapist in the act would you reason with him and prevent him running off?

I think we need a holistic view of violence, yin and yang in the totality. In some circumstances violence can be positive and have good results, in others not so. I learned this through study of the martial arts over a 12 year period. Politically, if you cannot defend yourself you cannot defend your ideas in the real world of street politics. As if fascists like the BNP will be put off by your moral high ground ha hahahahahhaha.

Robin Hood

Perfume n Pomp

13.01.2008 21:03

Yes we are bored the nice policeman pushing n shoving people into other pedestrians outside Downing Street was actually wearing John Paul Gaultier and I know that due to my being an employee of a well known high street chain store in Oxford Street which I have no intention of advertising on this site.

Remember, know your fragrancies: as the officer who attacked Brian Haw was wearing Joop, so what do you think about that weareboredknowitall?

The facts are that a group of individuals decided to take a wonder around the vicinity of Parliament collectively and were threatened, abused and in some cases violently attacked by members of the Metropolitan Police and Brian popped along to film what he saw and was bashed up for doing so.

Does that answer your query?

The Hackney Heckler

better uses...

13.01.2008 22:11

I wasn't at the demo yesterday but I might suggest to those who were that instead of preaching/venting to the converted and slagging others off here that you start writing letters to the national press - if enough people who were there yesterday write in, they might actually print at least one of your letters and you can then get your message out to a wider audience. It's the British public that have a right to know what happened yesterday, regardless of how we choose to clothe ourselves in or who we associate with.

Brian is the people's hero. Respect to him.

Prada Protester

i was there

14.01.2008 00:36

i was at that protest, it was a spontaneous event and therefore no-one organised it but us, on the day, minute by minute as a series of quick votes on where to march to next. we visited the treasury, parliament square, the home office, scotland yard, the ministry of justice, mi5, and parliament square again before settling outside downing st. i didn't see brian get arrested but i can confirm that police response outside downing st was completely disproportionate and malicious in intent. we were getting punched, kicked, dragged and pressure pointed by the police. i saw a disabled guy getting dragged roughly out of the street towards his wheelchair which the police had removed minutes earlier. the protest was 100% peaceful from our side, and up until the point when the cops started treating it as a mosh pit, throwing their weight around and ripping up our signs we were an entirely good natured crowd. to be fair, the police escort that we ran around westminster was passive and made very few negative actions (though this may have been down to bad organisation on their part because the feeling i got was that they were confused by our chaotic route and couldn't get a force in place large enough to stop us), and many of the cops i talked to sympathised with our cause though it could be argued that this makes their actions all the more inexcusable.

what's really important at this point is that as many people as possible respond to the government's consultation paper by january 17th demanding the repeal of sections 132-138 of the serious organised crime and police act 2005 (socpa), and opposing the 'harmonisation' of laws governing the right to free assembly and the right to protest. this is a direct affront to our civil liberties in the uk - if these laws are 'harmonised' it could mean that we need to give police advance notice before we assemble, not just before we march somewhere. it could also give them power to ban an assembly, which would be unacceptable. more info at www.repeal-socpa.info.

peace,
dan

dan
Homepage: http://www.myspace.com/hangetsu

violence is never useful

14.01.2008 02:48

Robin Hood,
violence will never defeat a system obsessed wiht & built on violence. it's a numbers game. if we have show no fear, think & act quick & clever then we'll always outsmart them.

first they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they attack you, then you win.

i think they're in the attack faze.

Prada Protester,
i haven't noticed too much slagging off on here, more constructive comments.
which media people have you contacted?
believe me it's getting out there. i'm part of the unpaid, free press in this country and this thing will go pretty big.
there's lots of video & photos and there'll be a press conference later this week.

it made the 6pm news on saturday, although i'm not sure how it was covered. anyone?

free press

Violence

14.01.2008 08:39

Either whoever suggested that people demonstrating their right to peaceful protest should adopt violence is either an idiot or their wit and irony is far too dry.

Dessicated Coconunt

London Metro covers Brian's assault

14.01.2008 09:54

I've been informed that it is on page 7 and shows the photo from this article. I have not seen it yet.

Andy

Mainstream Media Coverage

14.01.2008 10:19

BBC:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/london/7186606.stm

"A Metropolitan Police spokesman said they were forced to act because the march contravened the Socpa legislation.

"They did not seek authority from the Metropolitan Police Service for the demonstration," he said."

Funny way to explain assaulting a man with a camera.

Press Association:

http://ukpress.google.com/article/ALeqM5gPbCvr_MQORVOGX13KH9MKfffOUA

"A spokesman for the Metropolitan Police said no complaint had been received but any complaint that was made would be investigated as appropriate."

lie detector

Front page of 'Morning Star'

14.01.2008 12:20

"Haw beaten up by police"

http://www.peoples-press.com/today.pdf

"Haw beaten up by police"

Beating the people with the people's stick

14.01.2008 13:28

According to Baroness Miller quoting official figures, "policing of the “Sack Parliament” protest of October 2006 cost £298,000 [Official Record, 30 Nov 2006 : Column WA76]."

According to the BBC that spending on that single demonstration alone could have bought somewhere in the region of 60 heart bypasses.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/3461585.stm

In policing terms how much crime could have been tackled with what has spent so far?

State Overseers Crushing Peace Activists

Awful behaviour

14.01.2008 17:15

This is digusting. I have to admit I'm pretty conservative in my Political outlook and haven't ever been on a demo, but this article illustrates how the government and police in this country have gotten completly out of control.
I thought the police where bad in the 80's what with the way they treated the peace convoy at Stonehenge and the Miner's strike.
I hope people of all mainstream political persuations, be they Tory, Labour, Green, etc. come to together and say no more to Brown and his cronies.
Good luck to Mr Haw, you have won yourself another supporter!
AD

No complaint?

14.01.2008 21:51

From the BBC report

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/london/7186606.stm
'He accused police of using "violent and humiliating force" but said he would not be making a complaint.'

That seems strange if the allegations are true that he was assaulted, and from the photo Brian certainly appears to have got a nasty gash upon his face. Unless Brian just thinks he is so tough that he can take it. It's not up to the police to say that the injury inflicted by the police is not that bad.

And in relation to this "correction - brian wasn't charged with anything!"

That wouldn't be surprising if he hasn't done anything illegal. They can not charge him with demonstrating (?) if he was not demonstrating. In the video he is not holding any signs or demonstrating in any other way. Not saying I agree with Brian's choice of language, but using the f-word after being injured in the face is hardly disproportionate, and not even in aggression ("that's why you have a f-ing number on your shoulder" is an adjective(?) describing the number, not a police officer, and so not abusive in any way). Emphasising the word 'number'. That's my take on it anyway, unless there was anything else not on the film.

Brian B

What A Day!

14.01.2008 22:13

I was at the police station when Brian was released, after 3.00 some time. All respect to the legend, but let us not forget that there were other people that were also arrested for participating in the Downing Street action. The Bro that I was waiting for at the station was one of them and they all got heavy handed treatment.

We had a crazy day, that’s for sure … to be fair we could have all got arrested at any point.

Refuse Resist!

DonB.

Costs!

14.01.2008 22:40

Hmmm … to name just a few … there is still the Stop The War Coalition march to parliament and Climate Change march from parliament and blab blab blab …

£7m - the cost of policing the Heathrow climate camp protest

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=480489&in_page_id=1770

Faslane protest costs police £5m

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/glasgow_and_west/6974919.stm

Policing costs for arms fair to top £4m

http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/standard/article-23411768-details/Policing+costs+for+arms+fair+to+top+%C2%A34m/article.do

Refuse Resist!

DonB.

correction stands

14.01.2008 23:23

thanks to fahim for the corrections

i was working on what i was hearing from others on saturday night, so thanks for putting us right.

rikki

reply to brianb about bbc article

15.01.2008 10:05

"From the BBC report

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/london/7186606.stm
'He accused police of using "violent and humiliating force" but said he would not be making a complaint.'

That seems strange if the allegations are true that he was assaulted, and from the photo Brian certainly appears to have got a nasty gash upon his face. Unless Brian just thinks he is so tough that he can take it. It's not up to the police to say that the injury inflicted by the police is not that bad."

INDEED i've already complained to the beeb about this. they have used the police press officer's statement that the police have not had any complaint from brian and then attributed it to brian himself. of course brian is going to complain, and if there were any justice U1019 would end up behind bars.

i've not even had a reply from the beeb - perhaps others should write too?

newsonline.complaints@bbc.co.uk

rikki

so you do nothing...

15.01.2008 13:12

...you watch, as you state, people being violently attacked, yet you remain peaceful, doing nothing except moaning how unfair it is.

Of course the police will hurt you - it's what they do. Lose the pointless pacifism and take up tactics that will help you to defend yourselves.

the nasty one at the back

the nasty one at the back

15.01.2008 15:54

Not having been there I'm not sure if anyone could have done anything. Often these things are over in seconds.

But you have a choice. You respond with violence in an unwinnable battle and give the cops every excuse they needs to kick the utter shit out you and more importantly your friends and you also give them all they need to come down hard on subsequent peaceful demos or you seek to avoid it and injury and predictable biased reporting as much as possible. Image the media attention if it were Brian that bust a cop's face open.

You might win the first round. But next time they will bus the heavies in on coaches. To be fair, cops are a lot less likely to fly off the handle now than they were ten years ago. But it is worth watching incidents like this for any general change in policing.

Sitting in your comfy chair telling people to attack the cops isn't going to help anyone. But if you turn up at any non-violent demos please make sure you tell people how you feel about these matters so that they can avoid you. It's not on to drag others into it.

The calm one at the front

Doing nothing...?

15.01.2008 20:00

" so you do nothing"
"...you watch, as you state, people being violently attacked, yet you remain peaceful, doing nothing except moaning how unfair it is."

Putting oneself on the physical line to agitate and organise against injustice, in tne face of barely-restrained barbarity, is 'doing nothing'?

"Of course the police will hurt you - it's what they do."
Yes - all the more reason to agitate and organise, to inform and raise consciousness, all the better to defeat the bullies' paymasters.

" Lose the pointless pacifism and take up tactics that will help you to defend yourselves."
A self-evident point about pacifism is to defeat brutality and rule by force or threat of force. A tactic has to include the truth in action of non-violent means in waging that struggle, noticing that Humanity is evolving towards peaceful, social,communal means of resolving differences; any pacifist would want to appeal to that better nature and to demonstrate it in practical daily life and struggle.

"the nasty one at the back"
That philosophy and position seems at odds with your thesis.

Danny

Response to 'So you do nothing' Nasty One At The Back

16.01.2008 16:49

Nasty One The Back is probably a colleague of PC U1019, who wants people to act in an equally violent and criminal manor as he has to help to cover up or justify his disgraceful act. How can you claim the moral upper hand if you act in the same horrific manor. There is a lot that peaceful protest and non-violent direct action can do, as well as procedure's to deal with PC U1019's unlawful and violent act.

Observer

not a useful response

17.01.2008 09:29

...

"how many people will be, like me, initially moved for revenge?"

None at all if my understanding of the people concerned is correct. They stand for the right to peacefully demonstrate.

Keep your little fantasies to yourself! Otherwise you may just get other people into deep shit.

The Shaking Head

...

Well, how impolite!!!

... and a little provokative, but illustrates nicely the point I was making ...

Of course people will be moved for revenge, it is basic human nature (and the issue of peace and justice concerns us all). The authorities rely on this basic human nature to force the 'resistance' into positions from where they are more easily controled.

Do you really think that I was implying that people should go out and ... whatever ... randomly violence somit???

Read my last lines again:

"The best revenge for Brian and the people of Iraq et al would be to ensure a massive publicity campaign and an unswerving burning desire for justice to be delivered through the appropriate legal channels."

Followed by:

"... and if that fails ...?"

Because seeking restitutional justice from the state always fails doesn't it?

As much as I admire the thought of Ghandi-esq legions presenting their heads for breaking in neat lines, I will not join that queue.

And quite frankly, I am not waiting around for either the 'resistance' to organize such a line that would tire the baton welding arms, nor for the state to follow through on its promises of impartiality and justice from the states organs ...

... I divest myself, slowly but inevitably from the state and its desires ... and replace them w/ my own

Use your own imagination to see how vunerable the state is on so many levels ...

... a baton is just a piece of wood with a worker at each end ...

Peace to all that deserve it, lamposts and piano wire to those that don't.

jackslucid
mail e-mail: jackslucid@hotmail.com

Well done jackslucid!

17.01.2008 11:12

"Peace to all that deserve it, lamposts and piano wire to those that don't. "

You have just given the cops and the media just what they want. "They are just violent thugs! We need to be heavy handed." Etc. etc. etc. All they have to do is point to crap like that as justification.

You obviously don't have the common sense to keep your mouth shut but do keep away from Brian Haw! The last thing he needs is to be associated with you and your comments.

The calm one at the front

The pacified one at the front

17.01.2008 11:22

"You have just given the cops and the media just what they want. "

Erm, the cops did just what they wanted when they battered Brian and others. They will declare us violent regardless of whether jackslucid expresses his point of view or not.

There are plenty enough cops out there already without the bleeding peace police joining in the shennanigans for free.

If anyone has just given the cops and media what they want, it is the dick who thinks we have no right to defend ourselves against state violence.

ACAB

yeah yeah

17.01.2008 11:29

Unlike you, I get the message.

You emote if you want to, I will employ rational thought.

I don't intend, nor encourage, a resort to violence. You deliberatly ignore this to nullify a point you can not logically and rationally.

The state employs violence and will do whenever its interests are thretened (and when it is a fascist state, its interests are the military industrial complex).

This violence can not be defeated by more, bigger, better violence (at least, not at extreme cost to all).

However, I wish ill upon some of the M.I.C.s operatives and will defend me and mine w/ every once (etc tedious macho etc) ...

... and don't get the feeling that you are somekind of spokesperson for ... anyone ... other than yourself. You don't, like the state, get to vet what I do, either as a right or because I have takent the time and effort to obliviate as much of the states control/influence/awareness of me as poss ...

... that will be how the state is defeated and de-throned, when there is no need for it.

Until then, history shows us that we must sometimes defend our rights.

Peace to everyone then!!!

jackslucid
mail e-mail: jackslucid'homail.com

SHAME ON ALL OF US

17.01.2008 17:02

We met Brian almost three years ago, when we visited London our only time. Spent two hours on two different days with him. The highlight of our trip! Hit if off right away because we do a protest in Chicago, u s a, every week. At that time we were doing it twice a week, four hours a week. Far less than Brian but certainly a sincere protest against these wretched, evil acts of aggression. We bemoaned our lack of support and saw Brian being treated very much the same by the people of London.

Nothing has changed. What the FUCK is wrong with you people? Every person living in your area reading about these horrible events should get his/her ass out to parliament square.The people of the world must stand up against these fascists. Seeing the picture of Brian's bloodied face, made us so damn sad and mad. If it makes you people feel the same way, translate those feelings into action. It is so frustrating that people honk their horns here or add a comment on these internets(bush's phrase) but don't get out on a corner to make a personal statement. What the fucking thugs did last week was terrible, we must all say NOT AGAIN!. Only wish we were there to help out.

Much love and solidarity to Brian and the other people involved in that courageous, inspirational statement against war. We can make a difference! People of the London area, stand up against war and for your right to protest. There is NO excuse for not doing something. The more things the better. People in this damn country are mostly selfish assholes. Only hope the terrible things that happened a few days ago will inspire more people in your great city to demand an end to war and the absolute right of all to freedom of speech.

Very often when we talk about these damn wars and fighting against them, we bring up Brian and his protest. Always say, look at this heroic person. If this man can give so much for peace, you can do more. Please do more!

Peace and Love
Vive Brian Hope to see you again some day, Much Thanks
Fred and Beth, Chicago

Fred M
mail e-mail: mundopaz3@hotmail.com

ACAB

17.01.2008 21:13

I obviously did a bad job of expressing my point.

I don't think anyone has suggested that anyone should shy from defending themselves. That would be totally ridiculous. If Brian had beaten the crap out his attackers, it would be fair enough in my book.

How a group at least plans on how to deal with violence is a matter for that group. Anyone who has been at the front of a riot will know what I mean about people having to be agreeable to potentially being beaten unconscious by a copper of brained by flying masonry. Defending yourself is fair enough, defending others in the absence of a plan is fair enough, but...

What I find very shady and damaging is someone who is nothing to do with a group stepping in after what has happened stating publicly that cold blooded violent revenge should be on their menu.

Considering Brian is a peace activist and many involved in parliament square are protesting for the right to peaceful protest. The suggestion itself is a bit dim. And like I said just the kind of crap the Daily Mail would lap up in the 80s and 90s. 'Rent-a-mob dole scroungers plot to hang policemen from lamp posts'- byline 'Why we need to crackdown on these thugs'. A license to trample people with a horse.

Fair enough if you fancy your chances against a horse or a few dozen TSG, but not really a decision to be made for the people in Parliament Square by others, in advance.

He should either keep his nose out of it or go speak to the people concerned face to face. Not turn up here broadcasting demands for blood.

The calm one at the front

a strange calm

18.01.2008 14:37

"What I find very shady and damaging is someone who is nothing to do with a group stepping in after what has happened stating publicly that cold blooded violent revenge should be on their menu."

... because that is what I said ... if you re-arrange the words and add some new ones !!!

"He should either keep his nose out of it or go speak to the people concerned face to face. Not turn up here broadcasting demands for blood."

Emoting again.

You don't seem very calm?

Perhaps you can't handle the truth about your position. Fine. I can.

jacksbored

Quasi-Communication Mechanism

19.01.2008 17:07

Unity and Solidarity Please … otherwise we are not going to change a thing. The internet is a limited communication tool as it cannot truly express intentions. Everyone that is disagreeing would probably have a much healthier discussion in person. Don’t let the ability to communicate regularly on the internet mislead you.

Refuse Resist!

DonB.