to think that dragging a disabled man out of his wheelchair is appalling behaviour?

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Protester Jody McIntyre - who has cerebral palsy - being pulled from his wheelchair onto the road by police at the recent protest.

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Disgusting behaviour.

And again I say, if he was breaking the law, arrest him.

He's not exactly difficult to restrain or forcibly move in a wheelchair, even a powered one - just restrain his control arm. None of which involves tipping him out in the middle of a road.

scurry - the video is perfectly clear. He is pulled from his wheelchair and dragged across the street.

And do you think it ok if there really were kids as young as 12 out protesting unaccompanied (if that is true?) If they were there in school hours they were truanting and if parents sanctioned their presence on a demo without accompanying them well I would say unfit parent,

Klaus, no I don't defend thugs on either side and I have made no generalisation (the word some is used not all).

However it was a member of the Police who murdered Blair Peach and caused the death Ian Tomlinson and tried to kill Alfie not other demonstrators, it is some Police officers who remove their numbers so as to behave unlawfully.

"Passive resistance is a demonstrator's tactic". Yes, Scurry it is. The alternative is aggressive resistence, then it's a crime and you get called a yob, criminal and terrorist. I can't believe that you think that this is OK. Do our police no longer know right from wrong?

In an ideal world, you would arrest those committing offences - but that would take front line officers away from the disorder and would achieve nothing. It is more sensible to move people away and prevent further offences.

oh fucking hell, that IS appalling. But I am MORE appalled to think that ANYONE would think it's OK to assault a man with cp for 'passive resistance'
HOW is that justified?

sincity I thought that re the green helmeted ones. They were filmed earlier in the day(some of them) scuffling with NUS stewards (not the "filth" newwave) as they broke away from the main march. This was their prime objective and there were a few of them at the Treasury later also on film smashing in windows etc. I would also like to hear newwave's critique on the Millbank fire extinguisher near miss. Was it ok to lob it at a load of Coppers? Just playing devil's advocate but would be interested to hear from the Cop bashers on this....

There are many occasions where people break the law. The police sometimes arrest these people, but just because people have broken the law that doesn't mean that the police can arrest them in an unlawful manner, or treat them in an unlawful manner.

It is bizarre to say that people were behaving criminally so the police had to respond in a similar way. They're not children pointing at each other and going 'well he started it, Miss.' They're the police - it is actually their job to respond to criminal behaviour within the law and I assume they are trained in this as part of their job.

Demonstrators do both. If you obstruct passively or aggressively then you can be moved on or dealt with -obviously aggressive resistence is more difficult to deal with and increases the options available to police - it doesn't mean they ignore it because they are passive. Have you ever been to a demo?

So in an ideal world the police would arrest criminals. In the absence of such a Utopia, it is ok for them to humiliate and hurt everyone else.

Not acceptable.

Even if someone has broken the law or broken through the police line doesn't mean that the police can just set upon him

it is not right at all, all the police had to do is to stop the wheel chair from moving.

ok thanks newwave fair point. But I do think the police came in for a rough ride and I am afraid they were too soft on the first protest and agrre a balance needs to be struck. There will always be "rotten apples" in all kinds of barrels though....

I am not a 'cop basher' klaus but I do expect them to uphold the law and not behave like thugs. Is that unreasonable?

Scurry - who are you talking to?
Yes, I have been on a demonstration.
Passive resistance does not, could not EVER, justify the kind of brutal and inhumane behaviour seen in this video and reported by Jody McIntyre.
It is unlawful and unjustifiable and totally out of proportion to the threat posed.

Jody McIntyre is interviewed by the idiot journalist Ben Brown:

Klaus, throwing the extinguisher was very wrong BUT no one was hurt, I think the lad is being charged with attempted murder. What was Tomlinsons "killer" charged with other than a bill for the "whitewash" from B&Q.

In future demos many more will come with physical protection (hard hats etc) as they need to with the actions of some of the Police.

If I was to attend a demo these days I would wear a hard hat, steel toe cap boots elbow and knee pads and motorcycle rider body armour not for offensive purposes but just to protect myself.

The few of you here who dare to make excuses for this appaling act are little shits. My daughter has cerebral palsy and uses a wheelchair and for fucks sake, even if she were to break the law - there is never any justification in dragging someone from their wheelchair. NEVER.

Woohoo to the bigots out there who believe criminals would get a wheelchair so they could go on crime spree. Fucking wonderful world my daughter is growing up in.

harpsi, it is only out of proportion if you believe what Jody McIntyre states. There is no one independant to show what really happened and the video does not assist.

There is nothing brutal and inhumane about picking someone up and moving them to the side of the road (out of harms way).

Dione - that isn't what I'm saying. I am saying that even if someone has broken the law they should still be treated in a legal manner.

In my experience, if you are asked to move on a demonstration and you refuse - the police will move you to the side of a road. If the police ask you a second time and you refuse, they can arrest you. At no point is it acceptable for them to drag someone from a wheelchair or otherwise harm someone who is posing no threat of violence.

Put on a flak jacket and become a Copper for the day policing a heavy duty near riot and make sure you do it in a passive way without infringing one's human rights. Real life tough situations cannot always be text book. As a contrast look at the old World in Action vid of Grosvenor Square 1969 and you would realise that the Police have come a long way forward. And we should be grateful we dont have riot police like the Americans had in 1970 at the Kent State University campus....

He was knocked out of his wheelchair and draged along the ground scurryfunge. You are lying if you say you can't see this.

Stop wasting everybody's time with your inane comments.

scurryfunge he was pulled from the wheelchair. There are plenty of other reports, including interviews with Jody McIntyre about it if you want other sources.

Also, of course no one is saying that people in wheelchairs can't be criminals! What a ridiculous thing to say!

The point is that I can't think of any reason the police should drag a disabled person from their wheelchair like that, at the protest.
Police are meant to use reasonable force.

They have no idea what his disability is, and they don't know if they could be injuring him or causing him a serious pain by treating him like that. It's brutally irresponsible, and they shouldn't be allowed to get away with it.

Klaus, how is anything going on in that video a tough situation? The police officer had to walk some distance along a clear road to reach the guy in the wheelchair. He wasn't being pelted with bricks. He just walked up to the guy and dragged him from the chair.