Remember this?
Ian Tomlinson died from internal injuries after he was assaulted by police officers during the G20 protests in London, in April this year.
The police originally stated that he had had no contact with police officers before his collapse. Sadly for the Met, footage obtained by the Guardian emerged a few days later, showed Ian Tomlinson being hit with a baton and thrown to the ground by a masked officer from the Territorial Support Group.
Footage also emerged putting the lie to the police claim that medics were attacked by protestors as they went to his assistance.
Further damaging revelations emerged in the following days, including the fact that police routinely concealed their numbers and insignia on their shoulders. More footage came to light showing further violence meted out by baton-happy pigs at the expense of protestors' exposed limbs and heads.
The details of the cover-up into Ian Tomlinson's death are now well known, including the deliberate misinformation (read: lies) fed by the Met's media laison in the immediate aftermath of his death, and the bent pathologist they used to conclude that he had died of a heart attack.
A second inquiry ordered by the IPCC in the face of a public outcry concluded that he had, in fact, died of internal bleeding. The balaclava-clad cop shown in the unprovoked assault on Tomlinson 'gave himself up' after he realised it was not going to just blow over, and was questioned under caution on suspicion of manslaughter.
Crucially the Daily Telegraph then came to the timely defence of the beleagured Met with their publication of the sordid details of our honourable MP's expenses.
And the rest, or so the Met must be hoping, is history.
What we have here is a display of the power of the media to direct the public's consciousness according to the whims of the media kingpins. It is in the nature of the mass media to search out ever greater scandals - doubtless in their drive to sate the public's desire for a free press that keeps a balanced scrutiny of the government - but it is inexcusable, though not surprising that stories like the death of Ian Tomlinson are ditched without compunction, in order to cash in on the latest drama courtesy of our ruling class.
So what happened to the Ian Tomlinson story?
Well, in the Guardian - the paper that broke the video of Tomlinson's death, though he has been mentioned in passing several times in articles related to police repression, the last full piece devoted to him appears to have been on May 15th - the announcement that the IPCC was to investigate whether the police deliberately misled the media.
The situation is the same at the BBC, with their coverage of the IPCC's statement here.
The sad truth is that, like Blair Peach, the full story of what happened to Ian Tomlinson will be buried by the police, and, just two months after the event, abandoned by the media.
The extent of the public's rapidly diminishing interest in the issue of police repression raised by the G20 protests was highlighted at a protest organised by the United Campaign Against Police Violence at Scotland Yard on 23rd May.
The intention being for the protestors to "kettle" Scotland Yard - forming a human chain around it. The abysmal level of public interest was revealed by the fact that there were only just enough people to complete the chain.
With the obstinacy of the police, the government and the IPCC when it comes to the hundreds of police-related deaths and especially the experience of the execution of Jean Charles de Menezes at Stockwell Tube Station, it is clear that all those with a stake in fighting the encroaching militarisation of the police and the increasing state-sponsered surveillance and repression must form the vanguard of the fight for justice for Tomlinson, Peach and the less-celebrated, though no less deserving others.
The tragic death of Ian Tomlinson was a setback for the Met's much-vaunted methods of crowd-control. But as we have seen, the increasing and disproportionate level of police repression towards demonstrations is part of a trend, since the anti-Bush demonstration in Parliament Sq in June 2008.
The pressure of the public response to the bungled shooting of Jean-Charles de Menezes forced - if only after several years - the government and the police to reveal the extent of incompetence, lies, misinformation and cover-ups enacted by a police force intent on acting as a law unto itself.
Truth is gonna come, but it is up to us whether we deliver justice now, when it matters, or in 3 decades time at the conveniance of a new generation of honourable MP's.
Ian Tomlinson died from internal injuries after he was assaulted by police officers during the G20 protests in London, in April this year.
The police originally stated that he had had no contact with police officers before his collapse. Sadly for the Met, footage obtained by the Guardian emerged a few days later, showed Ian Tomlinson being hit with a baton and thrown to the ground by a masked officer from the Territorial Support Group.
Footage also emerged putting the lie to the police claim that medics were attacked by protestors as they went to his assistance.
Further damaging revelations emerged in the following days, including the fact that police routinely concealed their numbers and insignia on their shoulders. More footage came to light showing further violence meted out by baton-happy pigs at the expense of protestors' exposed limbs and heads.
The details of the cover-up into Ian Tomlinson's death are now well known, including the deliberate misinformation (read: lies) fed by the Met's media laison in the immediate aftermath of his death, and the bent pathologist they used to conclude that he had died of a heart attack.
A second inquiry ordered by the IPCC in the face of a public outcry concluded that he had, in fact, died of internal bleeding. The balaclava-clad cop shown in the unprovoked assault on Tomlinson 'gave himself up' after he realised it was not going to just blow over, and was questioned under caution on suspicion of manslaughter.
Crucially the Daily Telegraph then came to the timely defence of the beleagured Met with their publication of the sordid details of our honourable MP's expenses.
And the rest, or so the Met must be hoping, is history.
What we have here is a display of the power of the media to direct the public's consciousness according to the whims of the media kingpins. It is in the nature of the mass media to search out ever greater scandals - doubtless in their drive to sate the public's desire for a free press that keeps a balanced scrutiny of the government - but it is inexcusable, though not surprising that stories like the death of Ian Tomlinson are ditched without compunction, in order to cash in on the latest drama courtesy of our ruling class.
So what happened to the Ian Tomlinson story?
Well, in the Guardian - the paper that broke the video of Tomlinson's death, though he has been mentioned in passing several times in articles related to police repression, the last full piece devoted to him appears to have been on May 15th - the announcement that the IPCC was to investigate whether the police deliberately misled the media.
The situation is the same at the BBC, with their coverage of the IPCC's statement here.
The sad truth is that, like Blair Peach, the full story of what happened to Ian Tomlinson will be buried by the police, and, just two months after the event, abandoned by the media.
The extent of the public's rapidly diminishing interest in the issue of police repression raised by the G20 protests was highlighted at a protest organised by the United Campaign Against Police Violence at Scotland Yard on 23rd May.
The intention being for the protestors to "kettle" Scotland Yard - forming a human chain around it. The abysmal level of public interest was revealed by the fact that there were only just enough people to complete the chain.
With the obstinacy of the police, the government and the IPCC when it comes to the hundreds of police-related deaths and especially the experience of the execution of Jean Charles de Menezes at Stockwell Tube Station, it is clear that all those with a stake in fighting the encroaching militarisation of the police and the increasing state-sponsered surveillance and repression must form the vanguard of the fight for justice for Tomlinson, Peach and the less-celebrated, though no less deserving others.
The tragic death of Ian Tomlinson was a setback for the Met's much-vaunted methods of crowd-control. But as we have seen, the increasing and disproportionate level of police repression towards demonstrations is part of a trend, since the anti-Bush demonstration in Parliament Sq in June 2008.
The pressure of the public response to the bungled shooting of Jean-Charles de Menezes forced - if only after several years - the government and the police to reveal the extent of incompetence, lies, misinformation and cover-ups enacted by a police force intent on acting as a law unto itself.
Truth is gonna come, but it is up to us whether we deliver justice now, when it matters, or in 3 decades time at the conveniance of a new generation of honourable MP's.
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