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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:
chegirl · 18/04/2009 21:44

YABU

There is no excuse for giving someone a backhander like that. She was not an immediate threat to his safety. I believe they have pepper spray for that anyway.

She may well be an irritating twonk but tough, thats the general public for you.

If a nightclub bouncer had done this he would have been in deep doo. They put up with a huge amount of provacation but have to behave themselves, ditto paramedics and the armed forces (my OH has been all three of these and is a gentle, polite man). He has been spat on, shouted at, been punched, called a n**r bastard, had siringes full of blood aimed at him and been threatened with everything from stabbing to firebombing.

So why should a stoppy, short fused copper get away with it? Because he was having a rough day and lots of nasty people were shouting at him? boo fecking hoo. The police have to behave better than the people they have the power bang up. If you dont like people being mean to you get another bloody job.

FFS some poor bloke has died and he is not the first is he?

BTW my brother, sister and brother in law were all in the force so I have no inherent hatred of the police.

dittany · 18/04/2009 21:45

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

policywonk · 18/04/2009 21:47

Thank you ladies, I thought I might lose it for a minute back there...

OrmIrian · 18/04/2009 21:50

Nope pw. Only one way of looking at this as far as I can see.

beanieb · 18/04/2009 21:50

I've been a bit ranty!

I went on a lot of demonstrations/protests when I was younger. This has actually made me want to start going on more - for things I feel like protesting about.

I don't like that some people go on them to deliberately start fights and I would never deny that this does happen, but on all the protests I have been on there have always been far more people who just want their voices to be heard, their number to be counted.

People seem to forget that these were protests, NOT riots. There's a massive difference.

TheCrackFox · 18/04/2009 21:51

YABU

I don't give a toss what happens in other countries. This is our country and we have our own standards. I/we don't pay our taxes so a police officer can go round slapping and hitting people that they find annoying.

If he felt she was committing a breach of the peace he should have arrested her and dealt with the situation in the way he is paid to do.

policywonk · 18/04/2009 21:53

Bang on, beanie.

I think a lot of people have put a lot of effort into presenting every single protest as a potential riot. And a lot of credulous folk (who have probably never attended a protest in their lives) have fallen for it. And this gives the police the cover they want to behave abominably.

As you say, once you've been on a few protests and seen how innocuous (and usually completely ineffective) they are, you're never going to believe at this nonsense about every protest being a riot.

You're right, the best response to this is to get back out there and join the vast majority who want to protest peacefully.

spicemonster · 18/04/2009 21:54

But the point is that they shouldn't react sgb. And the miners' strike was months and months of stand off. This was a few days.

This was basically a case of the police feeling under threat because people were commemorating the death of a man one of their colleagues killed. It's indefensible.

oopsagain · 18/04/2009 21:55

i think mthe police often push a peaceful protest into a potential riot bth.

And now with the advent of phones/small cameras they are being shown up as the agitators too.

supergluebum · 18/04/2009 21:55

"I've been a bit ranty!

I went on a lot of demonstrations/protests when I was younger. This has actually made me want to start going on more - for things I feel like protesting about.

I don't like that some people go on them to deliberately start fights and I would never deny that this does happen, but on all the protests I have been on there have always been far more people who just want their voices to be heard, their number to be counted.

People seem to forget that these were protests, NOT riots. There's a massive difference."

I agree beanieb, although I was too lazy in my yoof to feel concerned about anything

Now I reallllllly, realllly am going to bed.

Gentle · 18/04/2009 21:55

Anyone see Charlie Brooker's Newswipe this week? Recommended on IPlayer. (And, phwoar.)

beanieb · 18/04/2009 21:57

am looking forward to seeing it Gentle. And he gets more attractive as time goes on, which is weird because he's a funny bugeyed man!

spicemonster · 18/04/2009 22:02

oopsagain - that is a really good point. I have had some horrid encounters with the police at demos and marches over the years but it was always my/our word against theirs. Now they can no longer get away with it.

Gentle · 18/04/2009 22:03

beanieb True, that. I am worried that my fancying of him might be increasing in proportion to how fed up he gets.

oopsagain · 18/04/2009 22:27

where's the OP?

fulltimeworkingmum · 18/04/2009 22:37

Oh PLEASE, if people are abusive to the Police or Military, be they 5 foot nothing or 6'5, they should take what is coming to them. I have no sympathy - bring back National Service and the wasters will soon change their tune.

TheCrackFox · 18/04/2009 22:38

FFS

fulltimeworkingmum · 18/04/2009 22:42

Sorry....WhAT?? I'm new to this MN jargon

spicemonster · 18/04/2009 22:43

For fuck's sake. That you think it's acceptable for anyone (police, military, husband) to whack someone for giving verbal abuse.

dittany · 18/04/2009 22:44

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

fulltimeworkingmum · 18/04/2009 22:53

Oh, I get it - FFS - sorry to you chavettes out there! I didn't quite get your lingo!
Anyway, I believe in standing up for law and order....and yes I am serving in the military!!! and ~F*ING proud of it. I'm also a mum of 2 under threes.

dittany · 18/04/2009 22:54

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

MollieO · 18/04/2009 22:56

The thing that shocks me in all this is the number of policemen hiding their badges. If they are acting in the manner they should be then why are they going to lengths to cover up their id?

foxytocin · 18/04/2009 22:59

Keep laughing OP. It wouldn't take long for our police to go down the line of the US, Haiti, RSA, Thailand or Myanmar if we allow them to slap protesters around.

Have you ever lived in a dictatorship before?

I take it you and fulltimeworkingmum don't mind being slapped around a little to bring you back in line when you have a bit of a rant at your DH/P either, i take it.

no?

that's surprising.

fulltimeworkingmum · 18/04/2009 23:00

Oh my goodness - now I KNOW where that profane amount of tax I pay is going.
Enjoy your chickpeas, sisters.

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