Why exactly does society love violent, criminal protesters more than the police who try to rein them in?
I've long since tired of hearing about poor ol' Ian Tomlinson.…
"A sinister cabal of superior writers."
Death of a Newspaper Salesman: A Case of Anti-Police Sentiment Gone Too Far - Comments Page 2
Article comments
26 - Mark Edward Manning
Dr. D, my piece did not end abruptly, it was meant to end there. No more needed to be said (or so I thought).
Stan, thanks for what seems to bear some resemblance of support here. Rare for you, but thanks anyway.
27 - STM
I don't condone the death of anyone Mark in those circumstances, but if what I saw on TV was any gauge, the protestors were going bananas.
There was a peaceful, huge march through London a few days earlier, and I thought ... how long's this going to last?
What was the point of smashing the Bank of England in? They've been trying to help the average Briton by pumping money into the economy, with the British government propping up failed commercial and merchant banks all over the shop.
The police were there to keep order. Bad stuff happens in that environment. My own experience of riot police is: they give you plenty of opportunities to move away, calm down, and disperse in an orderly fashion.
The pommy cops are masters at it, because of the soccer crowds.
That kind of incident shouldn't happen (and as you know, plenty of questions are being asked of the police), but in the heat of the moment, you can see why it does.
But if you want to avoid trouble in those circumstances, it's usually not that hard.
The trick is to stay away if you're not protesting or intent on causing mayhem.
Vehement protests I can live with; violence and mayhem's not my bag.
28 - STM
It's worth noting here for anyone who doubts this thing is NOW being looked at properly, the TSG copper alleged to have been involved and caught on camera is in a whole world of strife by the looks of things, along with a couple of his mates.
29 - STM
My understanding from a story I saw here recently is that he's been questioned "under caution" ... for Americans, read Pom equivalent of Miranda Rights.
Once they start doing that, they're really not messing around any longer.
30 - Dr Dreadful
Mark @ #26:
I wrote that comment after I first read (half of) your article on the Browser From Hell (IE6). I didn't realize there was a page 2 because no link to such was visible.
See my #14, which I wrote after I got home, looked at the piece again on Safari (a browser that actually browses) and realized that you hadn't just stopped dead in the middle of talking about Ms Fisher.