Well, they’ve kept that under their hats. Channel 4 News tonight revealed their week-old film of the incident involving Ian Tomlinson and a masked riot police officer. Shot from a different angle, the delay in revealing the footage is apparently due to the C4 camera having been broken.
The footage very clearly shows the officer batonning Tomlinson to the leg from behind before pushing him to the ground. I was, frankly, dubious about this bit on the evidence of the Guardian video, but you can’t miss it here. One other thing – the officer is apparently left-handed.
And Ken Livingstone, ever Boris’ eager understudy, provided an extra piece of information. The officer is apparently identifiable as a member of the Territorial Support Group – a special group of officers brought in to police situations where violence may be a problem. He was concerned that this group might take a more “paramilitary” approach to policing.
The IPCC are now taking over the investigation from the City of London (news to me, and disturbing news at that, that the City police ever had charge of it in the first place – there are two City police alongside Tomlinson’s assailant in the video footage). And, most importantly, a second post mortem has been ordered. I was working up to a post on this grisly topic and am rather relieved not to have to tackle it. It is certainly an appropriate response to the trickle of newly released information.
BREAKING: In the last few minutes, the officer responsible for the strike has apparently come forward.
UPDATE: I should also have pointed out that David Howarth called for a full-scale criminal investigation in the light of the original Guardian footage.
Caroline Pidgeon AM reinforced the call yesterday, and also says:
As a Member of the Metropolitan Police Authority I am demanding a number of questions are answered by the Met about their strategy and tactics, from their media campaign in the run up to G20 right through to the actions they adopted last Wednesday. A full review needs to happen.
One Comment
According to The Sun Tomlinson was drunk (hence why he was unsteady on his feet and fell after a very slight tap) and had argued with the police previously as well as smoking a cigarette in front of a police wagon.
Of course the inference in this shabby article is obvious. The Sun has learnt nothing since Hillsborough.