Another blow to public confidence in the police

It is hard not to be shocked by this video of the police and Ian Tomlinson last week in London. The footage (after the jump) strongly indicates that Tomlinson was no threat to anyone or anything. He was just someone slowly going about their business.

This incident will be yet another blow to public confidence in the police. There were clearly people demonstrating that day whose main intention was to start a violent confrontation with the police but, judging by this footage, there is no possible way that a reasonable person could think that Tomlinson’s behaviour suggested he was one of them. Regardless of whether the police’s actions played any role in bringing on his heart attack (something on which I am, obviously, not qualified to comment), the way he was treated was a disgrace.