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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

...to think that the policeman at the G20 protest wasn't being unreasonable?

164 replies

Naetha · 18/04/2009 20:30

Is it just me, or do other people think that the media furore over the female protestor who got hit with the baton has been blown all out of proportion?

The woman aggressively confronted a policeman at a generally violent/aggressive protest (certainly not a passive, non-violent demonstration) several times, when the policeman was already being confronted from two other directions by other angry protestors. The first time he pushed her away, she came back, the second time he backhanded her (not particularly hard), she came back and then eventually he used his baton.

Is it just me that thinks he was just doing his job in keeping the peace (which this woman was trying her hardest to disrupt) and shouldn't be made a scapegoat for this media farce?

People who talk about this as police brutality make me laugh - look at Myanmar, Thailand, South Africa, Haiti, even the US. This is nothing.

OP posts:
fluffles · 18/04/2009 20:33

yabu - if she was genuinely breaching the peace he should have cuffed her and put her in a van for charging at the station.

NOT just thumped her.

police should NEVER thump people. for any reason.

he could easily have cuffed her, she was tiny and he's trained in holds etc.

mrsmaidamess · 18/04/2009 20:33

I have just seen the footage for the first time. He was completely OTT in the way he reacted to her. As far as I am aware Police are not allowed to back hand anyone, particularly hard or otherwise.

OrmIrian · 18/04/2009 20:35

YABU.

I don't care what is the norm in Myanmar. This is where I live and I won't accept it here.

Northernlurker · 18/04/2009 20:35

Well I saw the footage on the news and as far as I could see she was shouting at him - which he could perfectly well have ignored but instead he lashed out, losing his temper. That's not what I expect of the police - it was brutal.

florrybunda · 18/04/2009 20:35

I was thinking much the same thing Naetha. We are so privilaged in this country with regard to the conduct of our policemen in general and, like you, I can't help noticing that in a highly charged situation the women in question kept coming back for more. I'm sure we're being very contraversial though

oopsagain · 18/04/2009 20:37

I think the policeman should have done something different from hitting her in the face TBH
And then just hitting her with the baton afterwards was disgusting.

Just because the abuse is worse in other countries doesn't mak this right.

mrsmaidamess · 18/04/2009 20:37

this is quite a long video but shows some of what went on during those protests

BigBellasBeerBelly · 18/04/2009 20:40

I don't think that he should have given her a back-hander round the chops, no.

policywonk · 18/04/2009 20:40

How to spot a lame, lame argument

Oooh, she was a bit rude so she deserved to be hit with a stick

Oooh, she's gone to the papers so she deserved to be hit with a stick

Ooooh, things are worse in Myanmar (Christ on a bike, if we've got to the point at which the best we can say is that things are worse in MYANMAR then we're in deeper fucking shite than I thought)

oopsagain · 18/04/2009 20:41

oh yes, thinking that the police are allwoed to beat protesters is contraversial- FFS.

That way madness lies.

The police should uphold the law in a way that doesn't include hitting and beating.

policywonk · 18/04/2009 20:42

Oh it's deeply transgressive thinking oops - the sign of a truly original mind

GentleOtter · 18/04/2009 20:43

No man should ever hit a woman.

SoupDragon · 18/04/2009 20:43

The police should all be armed with feather dusters in future so they can simply tickle people.

oopsagain · 18/04/2009 20:45

daily FUCKWITmail, anyone?

BigBellasBeerBelly · 18/04/2009 20:45

Another excellent piece from Johann Hari. He always talks sense to me.

The police need to learn that sticks and stones rhyme. Someone shouting at you does not mean you are allowed to hit them across the face and then whack them with a metal pole.

SoupDragon · 18/04/2009 20:45

"No man should ever hit a woman. "

Really? Not even if they are being threatened by one? I'm not saying that this was the case here but that is a daft statement.

donnie · 18/04/2009 20:45

well I think harsh language should always suffice.

beanieb · 18/04/2009 20:46

"The woman aggressively confronted a policeman at a generally violent/aggressive protest"

it wasn't a protest, it was a vigil for the man who died.

so YABU.

you should watch the whole video so you can see the whole confrontation in context. HTH.

GentleOtter · 18/04/2009 20:48

It is how I feel SoupDragon and am entitled to say so, or so I thought.

OrmIrian · 18/04/2009 20:48

So... by that logic OP, if I 'aggressively confront' my DH, it's OK for him to whack me with something?

Interesting.

BigBellasBeerBelly · 18/04/2009 20:51

What if the woman is a suicide bomber? Or attacking a child? Is it OK to be physical with them then?

SoupDragon · 18/04/2009 20:51

Yes, and I am entitled to express my opinion too. It is my opinion that to say a man should never hit a woman is daft when a woman can quite easily be just as aggressive as a man, have a knife or other weapon. Is a man just meant to take it? Not all men are stronger than all women.

supergluebum · 18/04/2009 20:55

I think that people's perception of the police is that they lack authority, are powerless and plastic. They push and push and push the limits of what is reasonable. This woman was at a demonstration about the G20. She lost sight of what she was there for and started to abuse a police officer. If people want to start talking about police brutality, they should go back over old footage of riots in South Africa during aparteid. Sometimes we lose grip on reality.

supergluebum · 18/04/2009 20:55

Sorry YANBU

beanieb · 18/04/2009 20:56

but this woman didn't have a knoife, or a gun, just words. Poor ickle policeman, so upset by the words that he had to slap a person around the face and hit them with a baton. Bless his wee cotton socks. Maybe policing is not for him. Maybe he should get some more training.

I imagine all his work mates are either ripping the piss out of him for being such a wuss or completely disgusted by his behaviour.