Video Shows G20 Police Assault On Man Who Died
This exclusive footage was obtained by the Guardian and shows Ian Tomlinson, who died during G20 protests in London, was attacked from behind by baton–wielding police officer.
Moments after the assault on Ian Tomlinson was captured on video, he suffered a heart attack and died.
It sheds new light on the events surrounding the death of the 47-year-old newspaper seller, who had been on his way home from work, and not part of the g20 protest, when he was confronted by lines of riot police near the Bank of England.
The film reveals that as he walks, with his hands in his pockets, he does not speak to the police or offer any resistance.
Officers, some with dogs and some in riot gear, are close behind him and try to urge him forward.
A Metropolitan police officer strikes him with a baton, hitting him from behind on his upper thigh.
Moments later, the same policeman rushes forward and, using both hands, pushes Tomlinson in the back and sends him flying to the ground, where he remonstrates with police who stand back, leaving bystanders to help him to his feet.
The man who shot the footage, a fund manager from New York who was in London on business, said: “The primary reason for me coming forward is that it was clear the family were not getting any answers.”
The Guardian’s also has a sequence of photographs, taken by three different people, showing the aftermath of the attack, as well as witness statements from people in the area at the time.
A number of witnesses provided time and date-stamped photographs that substantiate their accounts.
Witnesses said that, prior to the moment captured on video, he had already been hit with batons and thrown to the floor by police who blocked his route home.
The witness accounts contradict the official version of events given by police.
In an official statement on the night of Tomlinson’s death, the Metropolitan police made no reference to any contact with officers and simply described attempts by police medics and an ambulance crew to save his life after he collapsed – efforts they said were marred by protesters throwing missiles as first aid was administered.
Yesterday, the IPCC began managing an investigation by City of London police into the circumstances of Tomlinson’s death after the Guardian published photographs of him on the ground and witness statements indicated he had been assaulted by police officers.
The IPCC said that Tomlinson was captured on CCTV walking onto Royal Exchange Passage.
“This is the aspect of the incident that the IPCC is now investigating,” it said.
It was here the video was shot. A post mortem carried out by a Home Office pathologist last Friday revealed Tomlinson died of a heart attack.
Source: guardian.co.uk
Posted on April 8, 2009 | Filed Under Life
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[...] which shows the startling force with which Ian Tomlinson’s head hit the pavement after he was pushed by a police officer during the G20 [...]